Love Singapore with 377a part 2

 

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.

 

 

 

Locations of visitors to this page