The verse and voice of
today (Sojourners 18 Jan 13) seems aptly appropriate for the on-going
377a saga stirred up by Rev Apostle Khong Kin Hoong of FCBC/Love
Singapore. The 377a is a law which criminalises gay sex with heavy
penalties in Singapore which the churches here have insisted to be
proactively enforced and be maintained rather than a "live and let live"
attitude and moving on with the times.
Verse for today - It is a fearful thing to fall into
the hands of the living God. - Hebrews 10:31
Voice of the day - Charity is no substitute for justice
withheld. -Augustine
I was in smiling in
glee when Rev Lawrence Khong of Love Singapore/FCBC/ New Apostolic
Reformation re-ignited the 377a debate leveraging on the visit to his
church by former prime minister Goh Chok Tong to spread his anti-gay
message, and bemused at the articles in response from Fridae. No
response yet from Yawning Bread, a tad slow for any alledgedly
"agressive" gay activist!
Rev Khong has followed
up his official FCBC statement with another lenghty article about the
gay aggenda in the FCBC facebook and his intention to meet with the
Singapore Law minister to insist that gays be jailed. He is walking on a
wayward path (where the churches' Gospel message undermined) and there
is a gentle voice in the desert with a prophetic message not to walk
this way.
Ironically, all that
has happened and the uproar caused may be a work of God in-progress.
The hand of God often
hardens the heart and minds of Kings and rulers so that they will act in
an extreme way to a point that judgement and justice is meted out
against them. We are reminded of the Egytian Pharoah where God hardens
his heart not to let the Jews go free, so that the power of judgement
might be shown against the nation of Eqypt who has put the Jews in
bondage. Likewise, the church has put the GLBT peoples in prison and
bondage and took away their basic freedoms. Perhaps the hand of God is
hardening the heart and mind of Rev Lawrence Khong to keep gays in jail
so that there can be justice for the GLBT community for harm done and
lives lost.
Rev Khong in his
religious fervour against sin is so determined to chase and put to jail
the GLBT peoples on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus, but also
bringing along the entire church through Love Singapore in this
agressive path undermining the unsaid understanding "to live and let
live". When the blinding light comes, it will also bring the church to
her knees falling to the ground.
Gays have been fleeing
Jerusalem ("the church") for so long and now the Christian leaders are
insisting to enforce the religious laws pertaining to Christians to go
well beyond the walls of the church to a secular environment.
I love the nation of
Singapore but I also love the church as well, the body of Christ which
has brought so much blessing to Singapore and to the nations with the
message of God's love and redemption. I see thunderstorms coming and
lightning in the horizon in the road to Damascus where the church is
chasing after sinners!
My develish smile comes
from the fact that Rev Khong has put the entire protestant church in
Singapore under judgement of the spiritual laws. He is giving room for
Satan to enter because the power of darkness dwells in unrighteousness.
When we judged others to the very letter of the religious laws, we put
judgement unto our selves in a likewise manner. ie the power of the law
is the power to reveal sin just as the Jews at Mt Sinai were adamant
that they could follow the mandates of the law came under the curse of
the law which is judgement without grace nor mercy.
We are reminded that
King David lost focus and took away a little precious gentle lamb from
the little that a poor family had compared to David's vast riches
when the King should be focusing on the real battles. Likewise,
the church should be focussing instead on the Gospel message, the
pressing needs of the poor, helping the sick, the care of the elderly,
the high cost of living, the poor treatment of foreign workers, and the
court cases where sex between straight people resulted in corruption,
abuse of power, and abortions. This excursion to take away the
little that the Gay community has will harm the church and cause it to
sin.
Forgotten is the
fact that Rev Khong is not speaking on an individual capacity but as
chairman of love Singapore and as an apostle of the the New Apostolic
Reformation. Hence, he is representing a large portion of the Protestant
church in Singapore, and the Christian Right in the US.
As the wind of
judgement comes flowing into the church, where it leads no one knows.
Will it open all the cupboards where the white skeletons are hidden so
long of the sins denied. When we insist on judgement, what we sow is
what we will received. When we insist on the full measure of judgement
and even jail terms for 5% of the population who happens to be gay, then
the measure and scope of the judgement is destined to fall on the entire
church in a large scale. We may not have another Aware saga but with
impending court cases against the mega churches who knows what will
happen.
Our false witness
against gays using the "gay aggenda" argument which the christians
themselves created to satisfy their own conscience is so self centered
and self righteous. The truth is that gays are a threat not to family or
the social fabric, but evangelical christianity itself as it undermines
the churches' strict and dogmatic religious construction concerning sin
ie how could God create a gay person yet label him/her as a sinner! The
anecdotal evidence that being gay is innate is so strong that the
Christians create the notion of a gay aggenda argument.
What we sow is often
not what we will receive! ie when a false witness is sowed, the penalty
is 4 times the crime committed according to the bible. ie whatever half
truths and rethoric we used to console ourselves of our righteous acts .
Therefore, what is seemingly innocent acts and statements by the
churches will be viewed very negatively by the rest of the community.
The flood gates are opened for which the churches will be viewed very
critically.
We have judged the
small dust in the eyes of others whilst having a log in our own eyes.
Being hypocrites and allowing divorce, abortions, and not insisting on
the banning of prostitution, harsh penalties for adultery, or the
prohibition of divorce but to single out the small and weak gay
community is clear for all to see. Our sins are grave, insisting on
harming the weak and the defenceless gay community with laws that take
away their basic rights. We are thus demanding morally that our own
rights be limited!
Pastor Khong is
ironically correct in fearing that his religious rights could be taken
away because he has abused his rights and used it to cause harm to so
many people. The church has special rights - having to pay no taxes and
having the support and honor of hundreds of thousands, and a place of
power, wealth and influence. Why persecute the poor and lonely soul with
no rights, the least and most despised in the community to insist that
their basic rights be denied! Gays are not even free to
setup their own organizations whilst church groups such as Love
Singapore, and National Council of Churches have a hundred thousand
members.
This is not a right of
free speech argument by Rev Khong, but one who is demanding the right to
cause harm, where his word becomes the law of the land. Hence, any talk
of dialog and exchange of information is irrelevant. Why should he have
special rights to cause harm? It is not a matter of opinion.
The call to dialog is
amusing as it is unlikely that a Apostle of 50,000 strong would ever
stoop down to dialog with any liberal pastor of a small church or indeed
be seen with a Christian leader who in his opinion is "living in sin".
What Rev Khong did and
have said will backfire not because there were any truths in blaiming
gays for family breakdowns or a moral demise into a slippery slope or an
imagined gay agenda, because he has sowed unrighteousness in the church
body. The harm caused to the gay community will cause grave anguish and
pain for the church in return where the church will be judged not only
to the letter of the law but to a much higher standard, by the spirit of
the law.
The 377a will be
decriminalised one day because Singapore will be seen as too backward to
still maintain anti-gay laws on her books whilst the major nations
allowing gay marriages! We will be seen as archaic but more importantly
indifferent to basic rule of law and human rights as the basis of a
prosperous country. We will loose our lead as a nation which is exiting
and at the forefront of the latest trends, developments, and happenings
ie the place to be whether business or leisure.
What is certain is that
377a will be decriminalised especially after gay marriages are accepted
en-masse in the near future in the US and Europe. What is not
certain is the harm that will be ultimately suffered by the Protestant
church in Singapore as judgement for with-holding justice. The time for
God's grace and mercy is running out, with each statement by Lawrence
Khong to defend the church and to insist on persecution against gays
gathers steam.
Judgement will start
soon within the house of God. Choose today whether we seek judgement or
mercy! The dice has been rolled. Do you hear the thunderstorms
coming? It is not a sand storm caused by thousands of gay pink dots, but
that justice will roll down the river from the throne room of the
mountain of God. The power and force of the river of God is so awesome
yet fearful for all who stand in the way to deny justice to the weak
will have their white washed toombs opened to reveal their skeletons.
Judgement is starting
soon in the House of God whilst the exodus for the GLBT tribe from Egypt
has long started crossing the red sea.
-------------------------------
From FCBC facebook, 19
Jan 13 by Reverend Lawrence Khong , chairman of Love Singapore, and
Apostle of the New Apostolic Reformation
----
My Statement read to ESM Goh Chok Tong on
Sunday 13th January, has drawn a lot of interest. Some are glad.
Others are mad. I am happy that it got your attention. I will be
addressing a number of issues in subsequent posts. But first, I want
to focus on the Homosexual Agenda. We must make a clear distinction
between a homosexual person and the homosexual agenda.
To anyone out there with homosexua...l
orientations, I want to say: God loves you. The Bible (God’s Word)
unequivocally calls me and my fellow Christians to love you
unconditionally. While we reject sin, we love and accept the sinner.
The Bible tells us clearly that sexual sin includes any form of
sexual activity outside of marriage which is instituted by God as a
union between one man and one woman (Genesis 2). Sexual sins,
therefore, include heterosexual promiscuity, homosexuality,
polygamy, paedophilia, beastiality and necrophilia. It was Dr.
Merville Vincent of Harvard Medical School who said: “In God's view,
I suspect we are all sexual deviants. I doubt if there is anyone who
has not had a lustful thought that deviated from God's perfect ideal
of sexuality.” I can’t agree more.
Hence, as Christians, we should never reject anyone who struggles
with sexual sins. With God’s help, we seek to love these and draw
them into a relationship with God, so that they can experience His
grace and healing, victory and freedom from sexual bondage.
I say to fellow Singaporeans who are part of the homosexual
community: I repent of rejecting, alienating, and condemning you
because of my own fears or ignorance of or indifference to your
struggle. On behalf of the Christian community, I ask you to forgive
us for where we have consciously or unconsciously rejected you or
condemned you. I commit myself and my church to do our best to come
alongside you in your sexual struggle—while not condoning sexual
sin, be it yours or mine.
In the last 12 years, I have been involved in a number of theatre
shows both as a producer and a performer. I have many homosexual and
lesbians in my production team. Not once have I ever discriminated
against them. I hire them on the basis of their competence. Their
sexual orientation was never a consideration. I have never imposed
my moral and religious convictions on them. I have even engaged them
for my church productions. I have learned to appreciate them for
their talents and their passion for the Arts. A number of them have
become my good friends.
Having said all the above with genuine sincerity, please understand
that, as concerned citizens of Singapore and as Christians, we are
NOT against the homosexual person, but we are unapologetically
against the homosexual agenda. And that makes a world of difference.
Please understand that the homosexual agenda is a political
movement. It is well-funded internationally. The objective is to
restructure societies so that homosexualism becomes mainstream and
traditional core values are thrown aside and trampled upon.
Homosexuals have a well-thought out plan. It comes in five steps:
1. Decriminalization of homosexual acts or sodomy.
2. Equalization of age of consent for
heterosexual sex and homosex.
3. Anti-discrimination laws e.g.
pushing for equality in sex education to cover heterosexual sex and
homosex
4. Same sex marriage or civil union
5. Homosexual parenthood and adoption
rights
Can you see now that the repeal of Section 377A is pivotal to the
implementation of the gay agenda? Once repealed, the door opens to
everything else. There will be no distinction between heterosex and
homosex. This will naturally lead to the equalization of age of
consent for both.
The next step is to seek anti-discrimination laws to establish once
and for all that homosexuality is normal and natural. It builds on
the premise that some are born gay. I do not wish to discuss this
now. Suffice it to say, that there is no scientific evidence for
being born homosexual.
In effect, anti-discrimination laws will reverse-discriminate
against anyone who does not believe in the homosexual agenda. We
will be prohibited to voice our moral and religious views on the
issue. I am told that at least three churches in Canada were
bankrupted by law suits against them because the pastor refused to
solemnise homosexual marriages.
Homosexuality will be taught in schools as the accepted norm and
parents will have no rights, no say over that. To speak against this
would be deemed discriminatory. Future posts on this Facebook page
will feature more cases in which freedom of speech and freedom of
religion have been denied those who hold different views from that
of the LGBT community.
Once anti-discrimination laws are passed, the inevitable next step
is the legalization of same-sex marriage. After all, no one can
object anymore or else he or she will be found guilty of violating
the anti-discrimination laws. All this leads to homosexual
parenthood and adoption rights.
There is one more step: the enactment of “hate crimes” legislation!
These are laws which make it an offence to say anything against
homosexualism. This drives the final nail into the coffin of freedom
of speech and freedom of religion.
This is the end game of the homosexual agenda. Some of you may say:
“No, this is not going happen to Singapore.” Think again. Many have
said that too about their own nation. We have seen this agenda
advance step by step in countries around the world. We must not
repeal Section 377A of the Penal Code, because when we do that, we
open the door of our nation to unbridled destruction. Our core
values will be systematically eroded until homosexuality is elevated
as king in our land. Subjects of this king will silence all
dissenters and make them submit to a new orthodoxy.
I appeal not just to Christians, but to fellow citizens of Singapore
regardless of language, race or religion who believe in decency and
who value right morals. Let us shut this door that would destroy us
as a people.
I appeal to the LGBT community who are
not homosexual activists. Rise above your own personal need and do
not be party to this insidious conspiracy. Singapore society has
given you space to live your lives, earn a living, and contribute to
society—without discrimination or harassment. However, we will not
let LGBTs set the tone for society. Section 377A draws a high moral
line which restrains the forces that seek to normalize what is not
right, not good for Singapore. Section 377A must remain.
|