What is your ending?

What is your ending?

The biblical story of our ending if we are truly believers of Jesus is that we need not perish into dust but be alive again in Jesus Christ. There is no end. A good eulogy or a bad one doesn’t define our ending.

In the entire scheme of things, the end is not some universal reconciliation between all mankind and God. Reconciliation is an invitation. Salvation is not within us, but is in our turning away from ourselves to Jesus Christ.

We long for Justice in the earth. At the end, there is an ultimate judgement, the Hebrew word, Misphat. Justice is not to make things right per say, but a verdict, a judgement of what is right and wrong on the foundation of God’s righteousness.

All of us have sinned. We see Jesus as love. But Jesus is also sin, at the Cross of Calvary. He bore, our verdict, our judgement, our justice, the harm that we did to one and all.

It is sad that some have made their god, the bible, whilst others, famous teachers such as Brian Mclaren quoting them as if they are the pontiff.  But even the princes of the church need to do penance.

For many, the talk about ending is presumptuous. They may have already been aborted in their mother’s womb in the name of reproductive justice. Their lives may already ended being born to a poor family, and in some countries due to die soon because of malnutrition and lack of medical services.

Christians can be a salt to a decaying world where the world actually belongs to Satan's kingdom as part of the Adamic fall. We make our own red dot, our own small kingdom where Jesus is Lord and Savior. That kingdom is not worldly but lies in our hearts, hence if we are indeed of Christ, we are joined together in one spirit to call our heavenly father, Abba.

We bring salt when we bring life to others, to alleviate their suffering and pain, to comfort the wounded, and to take care of the hungry. Whilst we are inclusive, we are reminded that our conenction with Jesus brings us peace, takes away our striving, takes away judgement, giving us freedom to be light and salt.

We err when treat our gospel as inclusivity for the gospel is salvation both on earth as it is in heaven. On earth, we are to bring hope to a god that loves them, and if it need be through empowerment, self-sufficiency, modern technology and health care. It is interlinked to an eternal salvation, grounded by the assurance of salvation in Christ.

There is no striving to be because there is no ending. Our place on earth is our part of our journey to bring to the light of Christ.

What is your ending? Let it be well with our soul. 

Were you there when they crucify the Lord

Heb 6: 6 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites,the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.

4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

Were you there when they crucify the Lord?

I once had a dream. It was so real, and it felt like the Lord took me back in time, and I saw Him there being crucified for me. I cried, for I loved Him because I have known the love of God for me. The pain and suffering of Christ at the Cross was too much for me.

Jesus died for a purpose, choosing to die, to take the cup of suffering. There was no other way for man to be saved. Jesus had to die. It was the people of faith, who put Jesus to the Cross. He was led like the sheep obediently to the Cross.

We have as Hebrews say, an elementary teaching, a foundation of the acts that lead to death being unbelief in Jesus as Lord and Saviour, and having faith in God. The water baptism represents the cleansing of sin, and the laying on of hands, for the baptism of the Holy Spirit and one day we may be resurrected when Christ comes.

I have seen many who were once baptized, but now deny Jesus. They don't say it aloud. They may continue to attend church and may even be pastors, but have lost faith that their sins be cleansed or that they need salvation. Their motto is love, loving others forgetting that we cannot love. It is the resurrected Christ in us that gives us the grace to love.

Perhaps it is impossible for them to go out of the grace of God, and they were never saved in the first place for how could we crucify Christ all over again. We crucify Christ over and over again when we who are Christians deny Christ substitution atonement which is the basic foundation of our faith. It is to their loss and shame. Since, we can't crucify Christ over again for He is risen, they may not have been enlightened in the first place.

Have we tasted the heavenly gift? the gift of Salvation in Christ Jesus. There is no longer any striving but resting in the finished works at the Cross. When people come to our churches, do they meet the crucified Lord, the empty tomb. 

Instead at many churches, we spend time crucifying ourselves for the sins we have done or the failure to love others, and crucifying others we deemed more sinful than us. We forget that Christ is crucified already, and we have already been crucified in Christ.

We can't really go beyond the foundation of faith, if we were not there when they crucify the Lord and seen His suffering, agony and pain. It was for us, that we may be blessed, that by His stripes we may be healed, and by His blood, our sins forgiven.

Christ is risen, He has risen indeed, and it is for us, that He may be with us today and one day bring us Home to heaven. Our final Home is not on this earth but heaven above.

The tomb is now empty. One day, our tomb will also be empty when we resurrect to meet Christ coming down from heaven above.

  

Substitutionary atonement of Jesus leads us to Grace away from religious fundamentalism

John 20:10 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.  Mary Magdalene Sees the Risen Lord 11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” 14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him,“Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).

During this Easter, in Singapore, there are about 380,000 Protestant Christians (10% of 3.8 million Citizens & PRs). If 5% are gays, there should be about 19,000 Gay protestant Christian. But there are few God’s children left. We have gone Home and departed from the empty tomb. Without Jesus' substitutionary atonement, our ministry to the GLBT community to bring God's Grace, mercy, and love is Christless and in vain.

Two thousand years ago it was anguish and sorrow when they could not find the body of Jesus for the final farewell and closure. In hindsight, they did not understand that Jesus had to die, and to be resurrected. The disciples left Mary and went Home.

Many churches are empty and dry like the empty tomb. Without Christ atonement substitution, we are left empty. We play religion, as if Jesus was still there with us. Visitors come and go but presence and power of God has left us. This is all vanity.

We live in a tension of Christian faith – between judgement of a righteous God, and a God full of love, grace and mercy. Without Jesus atonement substitution for our sins, we become religious fundamentalist of the vilest kind whether to the left or right. This is not freedom but bondage to the yoke of the law. It takes humility and faith to receive God’s grace and gift of salvation for which many learned has considered foolish.

Without God’s grace, we become either the conservatives who condemned Gay marriages or the humanistic Christians with a social Gospel with an earthly heaven and no hope of eternity. There are learned clergy who provocatively compare Jesus dying on the Cross as a substitution for our sins to bad theology akin to violent terrorism in view of God’s judgement. The opposite is true.

There can be no peace, no rest, without Christ’ Substitutionary atonement. What can religion boast, if it is all of God! Jesus didn’t call us to be extremist and to die for our own sins, for He already died for us that we may not strive and be extremist, but instead be at rest. There is nothing to boast of at the Cross, an empty Cross for Christ has risen. He has took our place that we may not be the religious extremist, whether striving to be sinless, or striving to do good works of love.

If we err to the left, love without judgement, there is no justice and no punishment for sins until there is only lawlessness and without law to abide by. If we err to the right, there is only judgement, no love, mercy nor grace and we become like the Pharisees.

The Cross of Calvary achieved God’s righteous demands for the punishment of our sins yet fulfilled God’s love. Jesus’ empty tomb marks His complete works to redeem us.

Jesus had survived many attempts to kill Him. Yet, they couldn’t kill Him for He was God. He chose to lay down His life for our sake, to substitute for our sins if we indeed believe in Him as Lord and Saviour. We too have a choice and a freedom.

Abiding by the Law by doing good works of love or abstaining from sins would not us bring any greater assurance of salvation. Alas, our righteousness is insufficient.

Jesus atonement was so perfect that only once suffice for even lambs and bulls was a yearly affair covering all our sins for the year. But His death would not bring us Home if we do not believe that it substituted for our sins.

The Cross is now empty. It had satisfied God’s Holy and righteousness demands, for justice and righteousness. Our sins demand a judgement. Jesus became our righteousness displaying God’s grace, mercy and love. At the Cross, the requirement and penalty for our sins was paid in full if we indeed believe and enter into this gift of salvation.

If Jesus had not died for our sins, the Cross would be foolishness, we would still be in our sins. If Jesus had not risen, His death would again be meaningless like a mortal man unable to conquer death and enter into heaven. Because Christ has risen, He is residing in us and we could call on Him. 

Jesus told Mary not to hold on to Him, not because worshiping Jesus is idol worship because heaven is now in our hearts. We don’t need to hold on to Jesus. He abides with us if we belong to Him.

Without resting in the Ark, the finished work of Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection being justified fully for our sins, and we being the righteousness of Christ, and becoming a child of God. We enter into God’s righteousness, holiness, and blessings, by faith in the finished work of the Cross. The alternative is unbelief disguised as Christianity.

The disciples went Home, and Mary was left crying. Her faith and love for Jesus kept her there. Love is not only about loving others. It starts by loving God, by loving Jesus. Mary loved Jesus that she refused to leave Him at the tomb not wanting to believe that Jesus was dead. She never gave up on God, she never gave up on Jesus even though the tomb was empty.

The journey of Gay Christians have been tough. Many have left the church and have gone home. We too can be Mary crying at the empty tomb of lost lives waiting for Jesus to resurrect us. Jesus appeared to Mary and He will appear to us as well if we seek Him first and love Him.

Fallen Angels mistaken as gays

Jude 1:6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;

Jude 1:7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Gen 6:2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.

Gen 6:4 There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

It is astounding that Christians fear that gays will bring judgement and condemnation upon the nation hence deserving to be put to jail or even killed as in Uganda.

There must be a basis, a half-truths for this fear, not that gays are any more immoral than straight people, or that homosexual sex was a sin so great to warrant special judgement.

If homosexuality was such a great sin, it would surely be mentioned in the Ten Commandments, but it wasn’t. When apparently referred to as abomination in Leviticus, it was related to pagan idol worship where the temple priests has anal sex with men as part of their faith worship.

There seem to be a great fear of what the sex meant! Perhaps, when the men had sex with the priests, the demonic spirit possesses the men. Hence, they became one spirit with the fallen angels which were the demons.

The Ten Commandments were prefixed by loving God, not worshiping other Gods apart from the God of Israel including pagan gods and created beings. Surely Christians don’t go out of their way in the streets to condemn other faiths and insist on long jail terms! Hence, why do we insist on 2 year jail terms for gays in Singapore?

Looking within history from Genesis, it appears than sex did result in a grave sin, not homosexual sex, not even consensual sex not by gays but based on faith practices, but it was sex between women and demons or the fallen angels.

In Gen 6:2 and Gen 6:4, the seed of man was corrupted by the demonic angels who intermarried with the women hence producing supernatural beings and beasts. That meant that the angels took the appearance of men. Hence, there was great evil that was innate because of these half breeds resulting in the flood. How could Christians be confused between angels having sex with women and gay sex? Except for a satanic inspired deception.

As a result, in Jude 1:6, these angels who had sex with women, was put into judgement, in everlasting chains even before end of times.

In Jude 1:7, the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah becomes very clear that warranted their destruction. Their woman too had sex with the demonic angels hence producing strange flesh.

Therefore, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah not because of homosexuality, but because of inherent evil of powerful strange beings with supernatural powers created by the unholy union between demons and women.

Why are Christians confused? because the stigma and sin is so grave that they would paste it on the heads of gay gentle lambs! when it was after all straight marriage with the demonic fallen angels and women that caused the great flood. 

When God is rejected and evil exalted in Movie Noah

Gen 6:13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.

Gen 7:16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.

The greatest deception are often in the midst of truth and light, and it is subtle. For example, we talk about God as the higher power, the divine, all true, but missed out God as Saviour full of Grace, mercy, and love personified in Jesus Christ. In the movie Noah, God is mocked.

The occult Gnostic is ingenuously weaved into the narrative of the movie Noah, to subtly bring down God, and exalt mankind and their special gnostic seed of knowledge and power as their own saviour.

The movie Noah is a Gnostic faith which replaces God with “Creator”, and makes the demons look like angels of Light, and humans divine with special powers/knowledge of Eden in the Gnostic faith tradition under the guise of Christianity. It contradicts the saving grace and power of Jesus Christ represented by the Ark.

• a)      Noah never mentioned God because the underlying gnostic faith separates between a higher unknowable God versus a creator of material or earth called the Demiurgic. Similarly, some Christians call God a mystery, creating distance when God is about friendship and relationship in the biblical Noah.
• 
  
• b)      God is portrayed as the “Creator” who was selfish and blood thirsty, first for kicking mankind out of the garden, denying the access to the tree of knowledge, and then wanting the destruction of the grandchildren of Noah. This is consistent with the Gnostic occult faith. Hence, wrapped around Noah’s hand is the skin of the snake, signifying special knowledge or powers which is actually a demonic manifestation of Satan residing with mankind. After, the fall, mankind is owned by the snake. In the bible, God is merciful even giving up His Son.
• 
  
• c)       In the Bible, the entire planet was filled with trees, and fruits, but in the movie, outside the Garden of Eden was totally barren. The seed from the Garden given to Noah was thus the Gnostic special knowledge and powers of creation giving rise to the vast forests and springs of water of life helping in the construction of the Ark. Hence, it was Gnostic special knowledge/power by the Creator that created the Earth, and not God. Biblically, God is all powerful and mighty, and created the entire earth full of abundance, trees and fruits.
• 
  
• d)      In the bible, it was the fallen angels that had deceived mankind and became the serpent of old. But now in the Gnostic occult faith, evil becomes good. In the movie Noah, the dark angels became angels of light giving special knowledge to mankind for them to survive on barren earth, and then helped Noah to build the Ark.
• 
  
• e)      In the movie Noah, the dark angels were punished by the creator and became giants, whilst in the bible, the giants came into existence because the angel of darkness had sex with the daughters of mankind producing angels thus corrupting the seed of mankind. Hence, evil becomes good.

The scene of Methuselah searching for the berry (the “seed of knowledge”) whilst the storm came killing him portrayed God as selfish in destroying mankind just because he sought after the fruit of knowledge. Biblically, only after Methuselah died, then came the flood and not before, for his name was a warning to the rest for it meant "his death shall bring judgment". He was the oldest living man at 969 years old symbolizing God’s enduring grace.

At the end, there was one door in the Ark, and it was God who shut them in, closing the door. It was God who protected Noah, and the Ark represented Jesus Christ. Despite the violent storms outside, inside the Ark, there is rest and safety. In the movie, even the Ark was corrupted with a stowaway, representing sin. In the bible, Jesus was sinless, and there was no hole in the Ark.

The occult underpinning of religious faith is so disingenuous that even thinking people of faith might been inadvertently practising the occult. The angel of darkness is often disguised as light and good just as in the movie Noah. The term “people of faith” are often used even for Christians taking away the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as the way and the truth to God, rather than just another faith.

The main purpose of the occult is to distort the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the message of salvation through the Good News. This deception is so deep that Christians put their attention on gays as the greatest threat, when the war is actually for lost souls.

Therefore, in all things we do, let Jesus Christ have the pre-eminence, glory and honour, the true Ark of our Salvation.

Catholic Liberation theology and the charismatic evangelicals

I was eating at the Food court at Funan IT Centre in Singapore. The person serving the food from China was so adamant to give me more rice and vegetables as I repeated "Enough Lah...". There must be many hungry ghosts in China.

With a large bowl of rice and three large servings of vegetables, I lamented for I have plentiful as a blessing from God even though I kept asking for less, whilst those who have none were suffering. How do we do Christian theology in a midst of a suffering and hurting world.

Growing up in the 80s, Christianity seemed so liberal then but not liberal enough to relate and accept some people in the authentic manner who were gays. The 90s, and 00s have seen a strong shift towards the evangelicals. The freedom of the Holy Spirit in the Charismatic movement should have made us different from the evangelicals giving us more freedom to move where God leads us rather than bounded by many non essential Orthodoxy and traditions.

Many talked about how the few Social Justice workers in 1987 who were put in jail for a few years had suffered, but the GLBT community also suffered in their many thousands and in those days, decades in the closet and not just a few years in jail. Many took their lives and suffered alone with their relationships and love denied. No one remembers them and they are still sinners in the eyes of the church and with no letters of support from the Archbishop.

I often imagine that with Catholic Jesuit Liberation theology we would end up having Jesus becoming Rambo liberating the poor villagers from the oppressive land owners. Whereas, in the Prosperity Theology, everyone becomes rich and blessed from God's blessings in Christ especially the mega church pastors. Jesus becomes the mega rich Messiah as Pastor Kong Hee of City Harvest so eloquently preached!

Liberation theology was about empowering the masses and providing the Catholic theological framework for the people to believe in themselves and their dignity and common humanity to rise up against the rich and powerful. It was not meant to motivate the the rich to help the poor.

Preaching Liberation Theology in middle class multi-religious Singapore would be very difficult because it is a liberal Christian theology of the very poor as a class solidarity political/moral movement. It just doesn't work in a wealthy conservative Methodist or an Anglican church in Singapore.

With the Catholic hierarchy in Europe turning right as part of the Opus Dei influence, the Liberation theology ended up in the margins of Christianity especially with a major charismatic evangelical revival in South and Latin America.

Where Catholic Jesuit Liberation theology ended, the Charismatic evangelicals took over with their prosperity theology. The concept of Base Communities of liberation theology became a cell group concept of the charismatic evangelicals.

In the Seven mountains Dominion theology of the evangelicals, Christians ended up ruling as the head over all the mountains (including business and the Government). In Liberation theology, there are no mountains for everything is flattened by one class in society. For the Charismatic Evangelicals, we are the head and not the tail, the top and not the bottom.

The anti-thesis of the Jesuit Liberation theology is not Prosperity theology but the Opus Dei ultra conservative theology within the Catholic church itself of the recently anointed Saint José María Escrivá. Opus Dei or the "Work of God" is fundamentally opposed to any Liberal humanistic inclination of the Catholic faith.

In Singapore, in the 1987, the late Minister, Mr S. Rajaratnam gave a speech on the Liberation theology which he associated with Marxism. This theology made famous by a Peruvian priest Gustavo Gutierrez in 1971 was essentially a theology of people power rising up against oppressive institutions and power structures which ironically the church hierarchal is a prime example.

Many aspects of Jesuit Liberation theology portrayed Jesus as a revolutionary Messiah of the poor bearing arms to liberate the common masses. The Vatican in the 80s has a strong anti-communist leaning against the Marxist and liberation theology and there would be little external support from Pope John Paul II for the Catholic Archbishop in Singapore.

Twenty five years later when Archbishop Nicholas Chia tried to show support to the liberal social justice dissidents, he wouldn't have the backing of the Catholic Opus Dei nor Pope Benedict XVI (Cardinal Ratzinger). Like the evil emperor of Star Wars there may even be lightning strikes all the way from the Vatican and not just a lunch appointment.

In the 50s to 80s, Liberation theology was being debated as it gained popularity in South and Latin America providing a solidarity amongst the Catholic poor. Many of the left leaning social justice workers advocated a classless christian base communities. At the same time, the Charismatic Evangelicals were having their Jesus movement which fed into the charismatic revivals in the US.

Liberation theology was however part of the Catholic faith rather than within the Protestant and evangelical churches. It gained mileage in Latin America because it had a large Catholic Faith community.

Together with a large majority of society being very poor, there was a strong identification of being unfairly treated by the ruling political and financial elites. Liberation theology was how the masses saw their lives and doing faith as a daily struggle for justice and freedom from oppression against the evil elites.

Ironically, although preached and accepted often in the elite American theological colleges, the implementation was only successful in the poor Latin American slumps of the common masses to make sense of their faith and of God in a suffering world. Liberation becomes a matter of faith, developed ground up from the masses against the small minority of elites who held on the power and wealth.

Yet, the core idea of making sense of faith from the common masses was contradictory to the church hierarchal when the Saints and Mary are above, followed by the Pope, the Cardinals, Bishops, Priests, the men, and lastly the women. It was all about class and power structures and positions of privilege.

Salvation was considered not as an individual salvation for our sins, rather a corporate salvation from injustice and oppression. The evil one was seen as the dictators rather than Satan.

Salvation was seen as from the oppressive governments rather than atonement in Christ. God was a god of love rather than judgement for our individual sins.

The Kingdom of God with Christ Jesus as the King became the kindom of god of relationships and mutual kinship based on the love commandments with no head for all are equal. Christ is discovered in relationships with "the other" rather than direct revelation from above. Theology is worked out from the "bottom" upwards rather than prescribed down from the top.

The common good of the masses and their humanity and its pureness was emphasised, versus the generalised evil, greed and cruelty of the rulers and also the former colonial masters.

Their theology was humanistic and deconstructed Christianity to being "bottoms up" from "top down". God and truth and Jesus was with people and the masses rather than the few chosen messiahs who handed down the papal decrees.

The people movement to get rid of the distinct classes and power structures within society were strongly Marxist in Latin America. The movement did not fare well in America in a cold war anti-Communist environment where a classless society ended up far worst, more oppressive and poorer than a capitalist society.

The Eastern European Catholic churches also became highly antagonistic towards liberation theology due to the persecution by the Communist. As a result, strong right wing groups such as Opus Dei grew in strength supported by the Pope John Paul II who was anti-communist.

The 1983 photo of Pope John Paul II castigating and scolding Father Ernesto Cardenal, who was a strong advocate of Liberation Theology and a Marxist supporter remains an iconic scene. Alas, the Liberation theology only found support in the Catholic poor in central America but losing support rapidly as Latin America turns to the Charismatic Evangelicals.

Queer theology was motivated by liberation theology. Arising from the struggle by gay Christians in the 80s was an attempt to work out a frame work of GLBT theology in the midst of persecution by the Christian institutions.

Here, the oppressed class were the GLBT peoples whilst the oppressor, the church hierarchal who maintains her power, wealth, dogmatic traditions, and moral/religious standing as if from God.

Then came the Charismatic evangelical movement which is top down with its emphasis on the centrality, power and redemption in Christ Jesus and the move of the Holy Spirit quickly filling a void of the Liberation theology which is bottoms up.

In 1970, the Pentecostals and Charismatics had 12.6 million members in Latin America. By 2005, there were 156 million members (data from the Pew Forum) and rising rapidly. The fire of the revolution was replaced by the fire from above.

As liberation, Queer and Progressive theology are becoming increasingly historical and academic, how could we develop an alternative social justice engagement based on the rising charismatic evangelical movement?.

In the US, the excesses of the 50s, resulted in an evangelical charismatic movement from the 50s to the 70s which focused on faith in Jesus Christ, simplicity and worship. Many in the Youth With a Mission (YWAM) youth groups survived on a day to day basis as they spread the Gospel in the inner cities in America. The Jesus People lived in communes where everything was shared.

YWAM was founded by Loren Cunningham of the Assembly of God Churches. YWAM has a strong evangelical message and today operates over 180 countries with over 16,000 full-time volunteer workers and trains 25,000 short-term missionaries yearly doing evangelism works.

The Faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for our daily needs was slowly replaced starting in the 70s by the get rich televangelist who soon got into the action by stirring up an anti-gay movement. In their self-righteousness, they created a self-centred faith based on wealth and condemning others of sin especially gays.

The Charismatic Evangelical movement was a faith movement where instead of looking at the world in terms of human power structures, the emphasis is on spiritual power structures where faith in Jesus is required for a heavenly breakthrough and surviving on earth. It is by faith in Christ, that God provides our daily bread.

The Evangelical movement is often about the power of atonement through Jesus Christ, The way, The truth and The life. Liberation is through a spiritual redemption in Jesus Christ.

Hence, in middle class Singapore, where most Christians come from a wealthy background, the danger is to become more centred on our righteousness, prosperity, and redemption rather than our common humanity.

How do we frame a Christian theological approach that is Christ and Gospel centred on a personal redemption in Jesus Christ, on the individual responsibility for our own actions of righteousness by faith in Jesus, and yet extend God's love, mercy, grace and compassion to another world where poverty, lack and suffering predominates.

How do we construct our own theology from an Evangelical charismatic perspective to be a church without walls, to cross over not to only to Hollywood but to the slumps of Kuala Lumpur and Batam, a cross over to the GLBT community so antagonistic towards the Christian faith who has been hypocritical and judged them wrongly as sinners.

City Harvest has a Cross Over mandate to the Market place of the rich and the powerful. How do we cross over to the marginalised? from a charismatic Christian perspectives?

When Jesus died at the Cross, He was naked and had nothing. The common poor masses on the left were shouting "crucify Him". The religious and wealthy elites on the right were also shouting "crucify Him". Both sides hated Jesus because He claimed to be God incarnate. They wanted to but can't be god themselves!

Perhaps both liberation and prosperity theology are idols for we have made god in our own image, hopes and aspirations.

I like the song, "Let the Weak say ....", for "What the Lord has done in me". It is Christ in us, the Hope of Glory that works miracles for our redemption rather than our human effort against injustice or to become rich. Christ is the center of our faith, hope and redemption.

The Full Gospel and the mega churches of the 80s, 90s went beyond an evangelical Gospel message to one of charismatic gifts and the spiritual/supernatural power and annointing for healings, revival and blessings. Perhaps the Full Gospel should also cross over to the poor, the rejected, and the outcasts including GLBT. Perhaps we should return to the Jesus movement of faith and simplicity.

What The Lord Has Done In Me Lyrics (Hillsongs)

Let The Weak Say, 'i Am Strong'
let The Poor Say, 'i Am Rich'
let The Blind Say, 'i Can See'
it's What The Lord Has Done In Me (x2)

Chorus

Hosanna, Hosanna to The Lamb That Was Slain
hosanna, Hosanna jesus Died And Rose Again (x2)

to The River I Will Wade
there My Sins Are Washed Away
from The Heavens' Mercy Streams
of The Savior's Love For Me

Chorus

i Will Rise From Waters Deep
into The Saving Arms Of God
i Will Sing Salvation Songs
Jesus Christ Has Set Me Free

let The Weak Say, 'i Am Strong'
let The Poor Say, 'i Am Rich'
let The Blind Say, 'i Can See'
it's What The Lord Has Done In Me 

Antinomianism - the seduction of lawlessness

For the last several weeks, there was a permanent article in the Singapore Christian Post by the Rev. Kong Hee of City Harvest Church at Expo concerning "Antinomianism - the seduction of lawlessness" with a part 1 and a part 2. I know I should not be, but I am happy that Law is strongly preached in that church because they are setting the stage, the perfect storm of judgement. We have here a very great evangelist perhaps distracted by his "bathsheba" against a church at Suntec who preaches the grace of God in Christ Jesus.The Word of God is powerful, for good and for harm, ie if used wrongly it can caused great harm, just as if one would dare open the Ark of the Covenant.

Yes, the church have been seduced but not by lawlessness but by the religious self righteous legalist now championing the anti-gay movement at GAFCON and if they continue would bring down the spiritual and moral standing of the church. I have a worker whom after so much grace given to him (and he is a christian) still never changed and considers his actions and work as normal despite being extremely poor. He still considers himself doing well. Therefore, the "Law" or a list of explicit rules would be clearly handed down of things that must be done and the consequences of failure.

The reason for having the law is simple, not that it might or will likely stop his lawlessness, but so that we can have very specific and clear reasons or a basis to judge him guilty. His greatest failure was perhaps not realising the grace of God in His life, and taking it for granted by continuinally living in this life of "sin". The Law is not to make people law abiding but to penalize them and to justify that they are sinners and lawless. It is the grace of God, the understanding that the judgement is forgiven by so great a God that makes us realized what a sinner we are and to change our ways.

The church is under so much grace concerning how it had dealt badly against gays, but the time is coming when judgement comes and our lawlessness that was under grace will come to light for all to you and can no longer be hidden. We have continued to preach Law when it cannot change people inwardly (perhaps outwardly through penalties), and attracts only judgement. Some have argued that we will be in danger of antinomianism, where there is no need to follow strictly by the laws as a demand. In essence, we all live as though there is no law although outwardly clinging to the delusion that we are religious and law minded (John 7:19).

Jesus defines disobedience to the law as extending to the thoughts of the heart, truly condemning us as law breakers despite our self-righteous claim that we are able to abide by the law. We are no different than people who claimed that there is no need for the law, at least they are being honest and recognize that they are intrinsically lawless. Irrespective whether one claims the need for law or otherwise, we are all condemned as sinners in the sight of God (Rom 3:23). We could not save ourselves through the law because we are intrinsically unrighteous and produce sinful actions despite all our efforts. The Law just makes it clearly obvious and without doubt because it is so well defined. It is a very good teacher to lead us to frustration and see that we are sinners. Christianity is about Christ being our righteousness through His death and resurrection (Rom 1:17).

The Laws does not define us anymore. We naturally produce good works if we are indeed born of God. (Mat 5:13,14 NIV) "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. The bible reminds us in Mat 5:13,14, that the Christian Church is to show a much better lifestyle of humility, love, generosity and grace because of Jesus Christ as compared to the rest of the community. If there is no difference with the same self centered aspirations and even worst because they blame minority groups for the caused of their own failings, then what is the purpose of the Christian Church? What is it good for if it does not achieve its purpose and be a light of the world, the light to Christ, God's salvation to mankind. Indeed, when religious law so much expounded by the churches in Singapore controls us, we come into its curse and reveal our true nature of carnality. Instead of focusing on Christ and be renewed inwardly, we exhibit a lifestyle of sin though we deny it.

The Religious Fundamentalist are also keen to confuse with terms such as "antinomianism" claiming that this is the beliefs by those who consider themselves not under law and that this will lead to lawlessness. The truth however is that, antinomianism as practiced by the Gnostics in the first 500 years of Christendom was without Grace or truth concerning Jesus Christ. Antinomianism was a perversion in that despite not believing that Christ physically died and resurrected for our salvation, the Gnostics STILL claimed that they were not under the Mosaic Law. Jesus did not come to take away the legal demands of the law but to satisfy its requirements so that as Christians we are not bound by the condemnation of the law giving us the victory and strength to overcome our sin consciousness. We can only be truly free when we are changed inwardly by being conscious of God's grace and Mercy and be surrounded by His Love.

 The time of judgement is coming in Singapore for the Christian Church, not because we have continually refused to repent of our homophobia, discrimination, and persecution of the gay community but because we have been the stumbling block between Gays and their God who created them. Judgement would not have come, if we have sought out the grace of God, the covering of the blood of the lamb because Jesus would have bored the judgement due to us at the cross of calvary. However, we have sought the Law, and hence we will be judged by the Law, and our judgement would go far far beyond the Gay issue. We prophesied that there will be tribulation upon America because of the Christian Right in America (Bush elected and 11 states banned gay marriage) where Bush won the electing using the gay community as a scapegoat to galvanised the Christian Right Support. It has indeed beginning come:-

 a) After 4 years of a Bush initiated rule by the Christian Right, we have an Opinion Research Business (ORB) survey conducted August 12-19, 2007 estimated 1,220,580 violent deaths due to the Iraq War. The financial cost of the war has been more than £4.5 billion ($9 billion) to the UK, and over $845 billion to the U.S., with the total cost to the U.S. economy estimated at $3 trillion. No weapons of mass destruction have been found and the Iraq war has been used by the terrorist to fight against America using their proxies. As a result the economy of USA is weak and in large debts.

 b) Aftre 4 years of the support for big business and the Christian Right with their prosperity theology, the greed was personified in the sub prime saga. The subprime lending is lending at a higher rate than the prime rate to loans that do not meet credit status of the borrower. Beginning in late 2006, the U.S. subprime mortgage industry entered to a meltdown. A steep rise in the rate of subprime mortgage defaults and foreclosures has caused more than 100 subprime mortgage lenders to fail or file for bankruptcy causong prices in the $6.5 trillion mortgage backed securities market to collapse. As these loans are repackaged into attractive investments, all round the world, it has resulted in world wide exposure undermining the banking system even shaking the foundation of Fannie May and Freddia Mac, morgage giants which controls 50% of the US homeloans. .

 c) Oil prices has arisen from USD 40 in 2004 to USD 140 in July 2008, more than 300% increases caused by the fears of middle east conflicts fanned by the Iraq War. This is further caused by the linkage to the devaluation of the US currency as oil is traded in USD. The rise in Oil has a major impact causing inflation to rise significantly not only in America but in the rest of the world forcing many governments to reduce the oil subsidies causing widespread protests and large rises in food costs which impacts mostly the poor..

The above defines the Gospel of the Christian Right - the Gospel of wealth, power, and of the sword. As we live by the sword, scheming and planning eg in the Glenferry protocol to start war against the very small gay minorities through deception and fear, we may die by the sword but worst than death is to see the true Gospel message being scorned on our account. The churches will still be there, praises will heard, there will be great preaching, but the mighty move of the Holy Spirit may be seemingly absent and what we do each week at church may sound like a hollow gong long after gays are happily married and not surprisingly the straight marriages will not be impacted.. The greatest judgement is the silence of God and the lifting of His Grace and Mercy. We have made the grace of God so cheap and realised it not but instead boast of the Law. The Christian Right has the power and the money to go much unopposed to do what they liked but at the end, they have God to answer to. May God have mercy on us.

377a - silence from christians

Even a remote possibility of 377a being considered unconstitutional by the courts in Singapore, say, 5 years ago, would have caused a real storm, letters to the editors from christians, and complaints to the MPs and PMs. What a difference, 5 years have made from Oct 2007 when NMP Thio launched an attack in Parliament on gays with the moral support of the Anglican and mega churches who followed suit in their Sunday sermons.

 For many Christians, the line in the sand stops at keeping 377a lest Singapore falls into the downward slope of immorality (never mind adultery, abortions, immoral takeovers, making fun of other faiths, financial irregularities against charities act). Soon after, Singapore became the leader of the Anglican South a group of 70 million christians determined to enshrine their anti-gay aggenda in the Jerusalem Conference in June 2008.

They had reached Jerusalem the epi-center of the Christian Faith and put up their anti-gay rethoric at the gates of the city of God. Gays were to be shut out from Christendom. But I believe that God had other ideas. What happened thereafter was totally unscripted. In Singapore, the high mountain of Christian moral and righteous religious indignation was chipped away in large chunks by one major public and humiliating event after another. Gays were coming out of the closets becoming pink dot(s) linking them together in love with increasing support from the wider community.

In the US, gay marriages were starting to be mainstream in a wave of increasing support for basic gay rights in the western world.

 Year 1 June 2008 - Same-sex marriage starts in California. Sept 2008 - Rules changed on the speakers corner at Hong Lim Park allowing legal mass gatherings. Nov 2008 - S'pore DBS Bank's charity links to Focus on the Family, a Christian anti-gay organization in the States was exposed. FOTF was in the forefront of the anti-gay religious movement in the states which seeks to deny gays of any rights. Due to the outcry from gays and the general public threatening to withdraw their accounts, DBS have had to back down. The tide has started to turn.

 Year 2 Apr 2009 - Aware Saga - when anti-gay Christians from the Anglican/ Mega Churches tried to take over a secular organization in the guise of coming against homosexuality. Pastor Hong of Church of Our Saviour, a leader of the churches anti-gay movement was implicated. The general public and gays rallied to help the Old Guard of Aware and in a miracle, the churches were forced to back out for invading the secular space and playing gutter take over politics. April 2009 - same-sex marriage passes the US New Hampshire Senate. May 2009 - Pink Dot attended by 2,500. The headline reads "Singaporeans don pink to support gay rights". A new dawn emerges for the support of the general public for gays.

 Year 3 Feb 2010 - Pastor Rony Tan, of Lighthouse Evangelism, a strong anti-gay Christian preacher having to bow down to ask forgiveness in the traditional manner for mocking a major faith. March 2010 - Same-sex marriage starts in Washington, D.C in the US. May 2010 - City Harvest Church under investigation by Singapore's Commissioner of Charities (COC) and the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) May 2010 - Pink Dot attended by 4,000 June 2010 - Pastor Mark Ng of New Creation Church (a church that often joked about gays) had to apologize when they joked about the religious deities of the 7th month hungry ghost festival.

 Year 4 June 2011 - Pink Dot attended by 10,000 July 2011 - Same-sex marriages legalised in New York 2011 - City Harvest continued to be under scrunity with some pastors leaving.

 Year 5 Feb 2012 - Campus for Crusade in the National University drawn strong public condemnation for a seemingly innocent outreach poster for mission applicants to Thailand. It shows increasing antagonism against the churches activities whence once the general public had even supported their anti-gay push. The entire faith message was now impacted. May 2012 - President Barack Obama becomes the first sitting U.S. president to support same-sex marriage. June 2012 - Pink Dot attended by 15,000 June 2012 - Senior leaders of City Harvest church, the largest mega churches were charged for mis-use of millions in church funds. It placed the moral and righteous standing of the entire Evangelical Christian faith to major exposure before the general public. Aug 2012 - The Festival of Praise, a mega gathering of Christians to listen to some of the most anti-gay pastors such as Pastor Mike Connell was cancelled due to the CHC issues. 

Therefore in just 5 years, the thumping support against gays by the religious Christian conservations has been replaced by the color of pink to support gay rights, the winds of change for gay rights coming in an increasingly faster pace in the US, and the major Christian leaders who could/would have come against any gay rights finding themselves in a morally exposed and isolated position. The blazing loudness of the Christian Right has been replaced by an odd silence.

It was a Moses like experience of God dispensing judgement after judgement on Pharoah to let my people go free. It can only be God causing a shaking, and opening the doors out of the closets for the GLBT community. The news in Singapore that the 377a court case is to go ahead has become a non-issue for gays have come out in the open to become real, whilst many Christian religious leaders who had wanted to jail all gays and throw the keys away from the jail closets finding themselves at risks of going into their own closets. It would be a non issue when they finally repeal 377a.

 Deut 27: 19 “Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!” Gal 3:10 For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”[

 The church had condemned gays under the works of the ancient Jewish religious laws, and had insisted on it to the full measure for gays even though the ancient context did not apply. At the end its not about 377a, it's about the church witholding justice against a defenceless group being brought down to their knees.

 When NMP Thio stood in Parliament in 2007 to insist that injustice be maintained through 377a, it became a curse on the church. When the church insisted that gays be denied of all rights, they were also under the curse of the law to be severely exposed if they were not 101% righteous and holy. The last 5 years has been a coming out for gays, but an unholy exposure/scrutiny for the churches forcing them to go into their own closets where even the biggest public praise festival/ evangelical outreach was cancelled.

 The curse of the 377a upon the church will continue on with an increasing severity if there is no repentance. The white washed tombs will be exposed of their skeletons. In 2003, a group of Christian leaders led by Pastor Yang Tuck Yoong decided on an anti-gay campaign or a "Gay backlash" in response to the hiring policies to include gays.

Not satisfied with keeping 377A, in Feb 2008, Pastor Yang preached on "The Sin of Sodom" and asked his Cornerstone church to stand firm against gays lest Singapore be destroyed like Sodom. Instead, 377A has become a slippery slope for the Antioch church, not Singapore. In 2012, for the majority, the sinful abomination of Sodom becomes the misappropriations of the millions of charity funds by the major church leaders.

 They didn't know what they had started in 2003 and the battle lines drawn on the ground would release judgement. For the curse was already in the ground, for the thousands of gays who died denied of the basic rights to live and to love. Their blood cries out for justice.... ... that was denied even when their freedom was enshrined in the constitution.

Obama the first gay president

^{Judges 6: 28} And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal, torn down; and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built. ²⁹ So they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And when they had inquired and asked, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.”

At the deepest time of darkness, the time for change is often around the corner. Even when gay marriage was already banned in North Carolina, they wanted to engrave into all eternity by amending the very constitution which supposed to protect the basic rights of the US Citizen. The very next day after the passing of the anti-gay amendment when we seemingly were heading back to days of hostility against gays, a new glimmer of hope rose from the east in Washington DC when Obama finally announced that he supports Gay marriage after a decade of ambiguity.

Obama has torn down the American Idol, our Baal, where we worship our religious self righteousness based on a religious cultural hierachal structure of male supremacy.  It is a brave stance against the church hierachal.

Some criticised the Obama administration from diverting the attention from Job creation which is strange since they have been using Gays as a battle cry for support with anti-gay article a common feature in each daily publication of Christian Post. What is conservative in America is now no longer defined in the belief that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, rather what two men does in private. Jesus is no longer important for even Romney, who claims to be Christian yet who worships the angel Moroni lifted high above Salt Lake City is considered righteous and holy just because he was anti-gay and pro-family whatever that means.

Some Christians have been fighting a seemingly losing war with the increasing losses in California and New York, and needed to stem the tide of defeat where even the ex-gay conferences by Exodus have had to be cancelled due to poor attendance. They have used rhetoric, theology inconsistent with the religious/cultural history, and even portrayed trans-genders (such as Sy Rogers) as gay men in order to extract the maximum repulsion and confusion. Alas with the coming out of gay men and women, their rhetoric could no longer hold.    

On 08 May 12, the North Carolina voted 61% to 39% to amend the constitution to state "marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State". The confusing language of the Amendment One vote meant that few realised that it would not only have banned Gay marriage but also civil unions. It was meant to deceive, to make a strong political statement when gay marriage was already effectively banned. It was draconian.

Being a very conservative state, the results were never in doubt, an attempt at a symbolic victory to gain the “moral victory” of claiming overwhelming public support when the percentage of overall support for gay marriage for the entire US nation has gained majority support for the first time in history.  North Carolina was also an attempt to use gays as a wedge issue to undermine Obama’s support by Blacks as the anti-gay fervour was driven in part by the black churches there. However, with Obama’s support for gay marriages, the Black churches are now compelled to re-evaluate their religious stance to remember that hitherto they too had suffered discrimination.

The victory parade of Amendment One against gays was thus over shadowed by the announcement that Obama has reached enlightenment. Using his faith based experiences of Jesus’ love commandments, he became the first sitting President to support gay marriage. It was a calculated risk for surely the black community will continue to support Obama, the hard liners will be against Obama anyway, but it would gain the increasing support of the younger generation for which the future holds.  

Obama’s opponent Romney is in a bind, eager to confirmed his conservative credentials by ramping up an anti-gay rethoric, but mindful of losing support by the younger voters or of distracting from a sure win platform of the poor economy. By entering into a debate on gay marriage, it will make it an election issue energizing the gay and younger voters to affirm again a real tangible change they can believe in. The GOP will find it hard to claim a moral high ground when their conservative candidate calls himself a Christian but worships the angel Moroni. It also turns the attention to Obama when the focus had been Mitt Romney gaining the GOP nomination.

Obama is facing a tough re-election. The gay marriage proclamation gives him a rare chance for victory to gain back a moral high ground when much hope has been lost. It is a victory for Liberal theology which has been facing increasing sharp falls in attendance of mainline churches supporting this theological approach. Obama talks about his faith, his family and the critical Christian reflection to come to a position on Gay marriage. Surely if we were pro-family, we will support Gay marriage for gay families matter too. It is the Harvard intellectuals that gave hope again to the outcasts of society - the other end of the scale.

We have reached the cross roads in history where there is no turning back in giving gays equality. Obama has given a Presidential stamp that “it gets better” for the hundreds of thousands of gay youths. At the end, it is a question raised by the Gallop Poll about “nature or nurture”. In 1977, it was said that 13% believed that Gays were born as such, with 56% believed that it is due to upbringing/nurturing. In 2012, this changed totally to 40% believing that gays are innate, and 35% due to upbringing. We go back to the biblical question of the Jewish Rabbi who called gays as the natural Eunuch (not man made Eunuchs) and as Jesus said born as such from their mother’s womb without attraction to the opposite sex in relation to the question on heterosexual adultery.

Judges 6:30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the wooden image that was beside it.” 31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead for Baal? Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn down!” 32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal,[e] saying, “Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar.”

We have made traditional marriage an idol which we worship by day but violate by night. If "traditional marriage" is deemed to be undermined by gays, let it defend herself. Let Baal defend her self. It doesn't change straight people going for abortions, and being involved in adultery. It doesn't change the divorce rates which has been rampant with the religious faith communities. Gays being 1/20 of the population a'int never going to impact the institution of marriage which have been made dysfunctional by people of faith when they go after gays instead of looking themselves in the mirror.

The idol is down, the idol is down, never again shall we come under her oppression. There is a spiritual power, an evil behind the opression of the outcasts, the weak and the defenceless. Just as a bull offering to God replaced the worship of Baal, the worship of carnal man,  may God show kindness and grace to Obama, the unlikely mighty man of valour who could have played it safe.    The Newsweek wanted to annoint Obama as the first "Gay President", for surely Obama has come out of his closet. He has led the way that we too may come out of our closets and begin to live again.

God is a good God. Jesus is good. He didn't leave the Gay community alone but He came back for His lost sheep. We will not be alone again - for He gave us our partners to share our lives with.

Palestinian Statehood

(Psa 89:2 NKJV) For I have said, "Mercy shall be built up forever; Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens."

(Psa 89:3 NKJV) "I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David:

(Psa 89:4 NKJV) 'Your seed I will establish forever, And build up your throne to all generations.' " Selah

On Aug 7, 2011, the New York Times had an editorial on "Palestinians and the UN" giving an update of the attempt to get a vote at the United Nations for Palestinian statehood. It is expected that US will veto any attempt for UN membership without a negotiated settlement of land swaps. East Jerusalem where the ancient Jerusalem of the bible resides remains the biggest issue of contention - a too difficult issue where negotiations haven't even started in earnest which has been stiffled by the issue of new Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

The nation of Israel and the proposed Palestinian state consisting of West Bank and Gaza is very small and crowded with over 9 million population. From the coast of the Mediterranean sea to Jerusalem is only 50 km. Hence, there is literally very little room for compromise. The city of Jerusalem has a historical and religious influence manifold its size.

It's a terrible predicament for those in Gaza and West Bank in their tiny walled off communities without jobs and hope. The unemployment rate in Gaza is 44% and in West Bank 25%. Foreign aid is the main driver of economic growth and employment in Palestine. Surprisingly, the majority of the 1.8 billion aid in 2009 came from the US/EU (80%), and only a small percentage from the Arab nations.

The situation is set to get worst in Palestine as the aid from US/EU starts to be scaled back due to the severe financial crisis in these countries.

With the financial crisis in US and Europe casting a dark shadow, the attention will not be on the Palestinian aspirations. The vote at the UN is a desperate attempt by the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to gain credibility as his Fatah movement now controls only the Israeli occupied West Bank whereas his nemesis Hamas has full control of Gaza. The increasing construction of Jewish homes in the West Bank erodes his control.

In a pre-emptive move, the Israeli Interior Ministry has given approval for the new projects of 1600 homes in East Jerusalem at Ramat Shiomo, and an expected additional 2700 homes in the near future at Givat Hamatos and Pisgat Zeev. Last week, the final approval for construction to start was given for 900 homes at Har Homa in East Jerusalem.

This comes in the light of demonstration by the Jews of the high cost of living and availability of housing. In Tel Aviv alone more than 200,000 took part in the social justice movement protest.

Condemnation came from the Europeans including what was called by Jerusalem Post as the "porgressive elite" in Norway whilst "soft" on religiously motivated terrorism against Israel. However, the response by Israel to the constant rockets attacks by a blockade of Gaza is not morally justifiable. Hamas who controlled Gaza and backed by religious Mullahs in Iran is a major issue of authority and legitimacy for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who controls Palestinian West Bank.

We must recognise the suffering of the 3 million Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank who has been displaced as a result of the war and became a pawn for the Arab nations to come against Israel. However, in their pain they have become cruel and religious expecially towards the minority groups such as gays and Christians.

“Being gay in the P.A. is, quite simply, deadly,” Shaul Gonen of Agudah

“I escaped from Gaza and came to Israel to live…not to be returned to be killed. Please…where is someone to help me?” Tarek who faces deportation from Israel

In West Bank and Gaza, gays are being tortured and killed by the Palestinian Authorities and fellow kinsmen in the name of religion. Sodomy carries a jail sentence of upto 10 years. The runaway gays frequently escape to Tel Aviv. If Palatestine become a nation, gays will be handed from the streets just as they are doing in Iran.

The failure of people of faith in organizations such as Sojourners is to paint a rosy picture of the people on the ground in Gaza and Afganistan not seeing awful genocide of the GLBT peoples. They can't see lest it deconstucts their notion of some religion and people of faith.

In West Bank, when Hamas took control in 2007 of Gaza, they started killing Christians there, and banning Christianity. Before the British mandate ended in 1948, there were 20% Christians in Gaza, now there are far less than 2.5% with many fleeing for their lives. These people of faith are not that nice nor moral.

Is Israel occupying the West Bank?, when they had strong historical claims over the land. Furthermore, they didn't invade West bank, it was the trophy of 1967 war when the Arabs tried to push Israel back to the swim in the sea. The Romans (their descendants being the Europeans and the US) pushed Israel out of their land in a diaspora to Europe, Asia Minor, and Arabia. The Jews there suffered for more than 1900 years culminating with the Holocaust in Germany where 6 million died in the hands mostly of people of faith. They are now returning to homeland Israel which they owned previously, and now morally won back through the 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 wars.

God had hardened the hearts of the Arab nations to attack Israel in the 1967 whose war victory resulted in re-occupying Jerusalem and the West Bank. As a result, the Palestinian nation is split with 1 million in Gaza, 2 million in West Bank, and another 750K in Israel itself. There are also 100,000 Christians amongst the 750K Arab population in Israel who would never want the harsh religious rule in Palestine.

The Arabs didn't want to give Israel any part of Judea, and they raged wars against Israel in 1948, 56, 67, and 73. Each time they lost despite having far larger armed forces and were squeezed out. If they had allowed Israel to exist in 1948 and go into wars, the Palestinians would have certaintly obtain nationhood.

Israel became a nation in 1948. The Palestinians was never a nation because Gaza was owned by Egypt, and West Bank by Jordon. In order to claim West Bank after 50 years of rule by Israel, the Palestinians had to seek nationhood with Gaza and West Bank as its territorry.

At the key of the quest for nationhood by Palestine is the claim old city of Jerusalem. This is the ancient and the most holiest site site of pilgrimage for Christians and Jews. When the Arabs conquered and invaded in 637 CE, they deliberately built a giant dome mosque at the most holiest Jewish site - the Second Temple of Jerusalem which has been destroyed earlier by the Romans in 70 CE.

Islam has their most holiest site in Mecca, and in the greatest irony they took over the most holiest Christian/Jewish site in 637 which has resulted in wars and tension with millions killed. The claim for nationhood by Palestine will fail because they have included of the Old City of Jeusalem. The same players are there 1400 years later, the European Union/ Rusia (Romans), and Arabs. But the time of Gentiles in Jerusalem is over.

(Luke 21:24 NKJV) "And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The moment the Palestinians present their claim of East Jerusalem to the United Nations for nationhood, will be the very day when the day of the Gentiles in Jerusalem will be over. By this audacious claim, they will loose their own rights for this city and for West Bank. Security guarantees are quite meaningless after 4 wars and the extremist religious people of faith in Gaza.

Queer Christianity

“Queer” is the term used to describe the GLBT community. Hitherto, theologians from gay affirmative churches have spent much effort to provide a theological construction to explain the clobber verses and to emphasis that homosexuality is not a sin, but a given, and a gift from God. Queer theology is a further development which extends beyond the GLBT community to cover those that are outside societal norms and constructions to the entire society both straights and gays. It is an emphasis on the expression of uniqueness of the individual/minority groups rather than its suppression based on class/societal/religious structures and power hierarchies (gender/religious/political/racial).

The GLBT persons often lose their individuality in a homophobic and patriarchal world, conforming to the aspirations of their families, society, law and religion to hide their self. Our core individuality and freedom is suppressed and harmed.

Often we unknowingly support the perpetuation of these religious oppressive class structures against gays by attending the mega churches and supporting them financially when these churches in-turn (eg the Methodist Church, the National Council of Churches, the Anglican Church Global South) lead an anti-gay crusade causing much harm to the GLBT community even suicides due to the condemnation put on us.

The fear of God is to worship Christ rather than worshiping the bible as an “idol” for a theological construction to explain everything. We are all created as unique individuals beautifully created by God, yet the identity of Gays are often suppressed by the Christian Right. They are constructing an anti-gay “god” because they could not understand why God create gays at the same time seemingly condemned gays from the bible. They are afraid that once the bible is undermined, the message of the Gospel is compromised. However, their reading of the bible is erroneous because they have superimposed their own history, culture and religion into the bible which distorts its meaning. Making a major dogma from the bible much beyond the centrality of the message of God’s love and redemption undermines the Gospel message of Christ.

It is interesting to note that whilst the struggle for social and wealth equality gains mileage in Latin America via the Liberation theology, the same struggle for prosperity gains following in Africa via the Prosperity theology, and the struggle for bible inerrancy as if our salvation depends on it gains a following the States via the anti-gay theology of the Christian Right.
In a very broad sense, Queer theology in its aspirations for the realization of the individual identity is a branch of Liberation Theology in Latin America which gave a theological construction for freedom of the oppressed starting in the 50s. However, Liberation Theology has been marked by its association with strong leftist and Universalist inclinations and is a mass grass roots movement. This theology is a Latin American Catholic construction made known by the likes Guitierrez, a Catholic Priests and theology processor. It fills an important void that Jesus also came to satisfy our physical needs in the light of the poverty and oppression in Latin America. There is however a tendency to under emphasis the message of the Gospel of spiritual redemption, the issue of sin, and to over emphasize the rights of the individuality and the physical redemption on earth.

The construction of liberation theology gives them a sense of backing from the bible and from God for the strong stance taken against injustice. However, they have rationalized the violence and the harm they caused in the name of justice, and the Leftist theology often integrated with socialist ideals becomes another idol and god with a non-hierarchical power structure only a dream. Nevertheless, Liberation Theology gives us reason to fight for justice and equality lest we take injustice for granted. Liberation theology alone is however limited when compared to the issues faced by GLBT Christians because Gays are condemned on three very different counts:-

a) By Society at large (whereas the Liberation Theology is a mass grass roots movement, and not a movement of a few percentage of society),

b) By the Law. Homosexuality is illegal in many countries and there are long jail terms whereas one would not be jailed for being poor.

c) By the Church. Homosexuality is considered a sin in most mainstream Christian Churches whereas being poor or a racial minority is not a sin. Instead the Liberation theology is a mass movement by the Catholic Church in Latin America whereas Queer theology is against the mis-interpretation of the bible and homophobia by the Catholic Church even in Latin America where they are leading antagonist against gay rights.

Whilst there are similarities eg straight people also suffers from constructions of societal norms such as women, and minorities, we tend to under emphasize that the gay community is thrice condemned and are far more despised than any other groupings. It is one thing to specify what you can and cannot do because of societal norms, but very different to say that one is innately a sinner or to end up in jail just because you were gay.

The paradox in Christianity is that

a) We are all different, yet one in Christ and both are to be celebrated. We lose the freedom to be a new creation to change from glory to glory if we hold on to our old self – our sins, our imperfections, our anger, hatred, causing harm to others etc. Whilst we all have a unique character, God wants to mold it to become Christ like - kindness, gentleness, longsuffering, etc. We become one in Christ when we addressed the issue of sin and redemption through Christ.
The denial of one’s innate character on account of social, legal and religious norms is equally destructive because we become no longer people of innate worth and beauty, beautifully created by God, rather becoming the robots to fit into societal constructions. We are alive physically but dead as an individual unique person even though Christ came to save and redeemed the real us that resides within.

b) We create many “gods” (aka theological constructions) in our own lives, yet united in worshiping one true God in Jesus Christ if the fear of God and the revelation of Christ as the Messiah constraints us.

We tend to make sense of life and salvation, especially our pains, sufferings, and longings through our theological construction. If we are not careful, we become gods molding god with our own hands. Theological constructions should be balanced by the fear of God, for God exists and have its being, character, and righteousness in-spite of how we construct God.
We are queer Christians not in the sense of creating a new “Christ less” or Universalist religion where we create a tent where everyone fit in thus making ineffective the uniqueness of Christ and the message of the Gospel, but to respect the different Christian faith journeys of each and the different Christian theological worlds that one comes from as equally valid perspective of Christ working in our lives within the boundaries of the Gospel message and centrality of Christ which unites us into the ministry of Christ.

(Luke 6:20 NKJV) Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: "Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God.
(Luke 6:21 NKJV) Blessed are you who hunger now, For you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh.

Whilst Queer and Liberation theology are genuine stance against the violent oppression and structures in society, as much as we want to change the outside world, and to correct the injustices within, true freedom and revelation comes within – from a change and molding of character into the righteousness of Christ and to walk by the leading of the Holy Spirit in the faith journey and appointment that God has for us.

Jesus declared that we are blessed because we are poor, because the rich could not see God in their self righteousness and self sufficiency whereas we the poor understands our humanity and dependency on Christ longing for the rule of the Kingdom of Heaven, the coming rule of Christ where all injustice and sufferings will be of the past.

We hunger for the realization of self, to be free from the structures that define us by our families, the church, society and by the law, yet it must start with Christ who fills and accepts us within. We love because Christ first loved us. We can love and accept ourselves as GLBT people, because Christ first loved us.

Jesus Christ didn’t call for a class struggle against the injustice in society, against the structures oppressing the poor and the minorities by the Roman rulers. He did not call for an external revolution against the Romans and the Jewish religious rulers that defines much of today’s liberation theology. He definitely did not call for an anti-gay crusade which defines much of the church today.

Jesus calls for an internal revolution, a change of character, a change of allegiance and faith in Christ, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that we may know how ourselves, to love others, to love God, and to resist perpetuating the existing oppressive class structures. Jesus was indeed Queer, a total exception to the religious norms. We too can be queer, not only because we are gay, but being led and guided by the Holy Spirit which makes the beautiful rainbow in the sky.
There is a calling for Queer Christianity, a recognition that we are beautiful and unique as individuals and to love and accept ourselves as Jesus has loved us, and to find freedom in coming out from the closet of the structures that our families, our society, the law, and the church has set us in, to be free in a Queer Christ.