Letter to the Christian Church in Singapore
To the Churches in SINgapore,
Greetings in the name of Jesus, our risen Lord. May His Grace and Peace be with you through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
On 29 July 2003, the National Council of Churches (NCC) in Singapore formally stated in the public forum their opposition and critism of the Gay Community in view of the more recent openess and acknowledgement of this Community by the Singaporean Government. Hitherto, the Christian Church in Singapore has been persecuting the Christian Gays in their Churches, with ridicule, judgement, and prejudice. Many a faith has been ship wrecked. I believe that the Word of the Lord to the Christian Church in Singapore is the very cry of Jesus two thousand years ago, to Saul
(Acts 9:4 NKJV) Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"
(Acts 9:5 NKJV) And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads."
Saul was a religious Jew. He was so jealous of doing what he thought was God's will, that he became the main instigator of persecution against the early Church for believing in Jesus. He was on the road to Damascus to put Christians in jail before He saw the Light, the truth that he was on the contrary persecuting God's people. Similarly, the Churches in Singapore quoting religion, Old Testament Laws for an age and a past dispensation, singled out Gays, the weakest outcast in Society for condemnation. Unequivocally unjust, it focused on Gays, but left out the worshippers of other gods made by man. Never mind the unsound scriptural basis of their justification where Scriptures spoken to Straight people (not Gays) concerning their worship of idols and the resultant practices somehow became a reason made up to condem Gays.
Saul the religious zealot, the incarnation of our modern day Right wing Christian, tried but could not capture and kill all the Christians. Similarly, the Christian Church in Singapore try as they may will never conquer the Christian Gays in Singapore. The cry for justice, the cry for equality, will never be quenched. The deepest desire of Gays to marry whom they loved may be stopped for a moment or two, but not for long. Insulting marriage itself, by reasons of defending the sanctity of marriage, the Church came to defend morality, not realizing that their morality is contradictory, a statement of their self righteousness, the very reason Jesus came to set mankind free from.
When will the Christian Church see the light? When would they be converted from Saul to Paul? From Law to Grace ? From the heart of Stone, to the Heart filled by the Spirit of God? From Self righteousness, to Jesus righteousness. Will the Stone at the tomb be moved?.
(Mark 13:10 NIV) And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.
God hears the cry of the Gay Christian Community. God is a good God. There is justice. Not understood by the Church is that Jesus comes back only when the gospel is preached to all nations and that includes all people groups, and all minorities. The Christian Church have now preached the Gospel to every single language group. Why is'nt Jesus returned yet? The time is at hand, Jerusalem is back to the Jews. There are increasing wars, diseases, earth quakes, Tsunamis. There are wide spread persecution of God's people the Jews with the last century almost 6 million killed. The signs appear to be have been fulfilled.
God frequently uses the weak or lowly to confound the wise. and that all glory is given to God. Self righteousness takes away the work of the Cross, it denies it.
The bible has gone one time round the globe - from the greatest to the least - from the most powerful nation on earth - the Roman Empire, to America - an off spring of Roman Empire, to another off spring - Australia/ New Zealand, and then to Asia and Africa- where the poorest nations lived. The Word of God reaches out from the Rich to the poor.
But God sees People groups within language groups. Not only are we separated by language, and customs, but we have people groups within. We have the rich, the poor, the destitute, the orphans, the crippled, etc. The doors of the Gospel for these groups have been opened for the last two thousand years. However, it has been relatively shut by the Christian Church to the Gays - effectively 5% of the World's population have been rejected.
The Gay Community is a people group. It is the last people group. In Singapore, with a population of 4 million, with 5% Gays, there is 200,000 gays. There are no more than a few hundred gay christians - say 0.1%. There is no strong witness to these poeple group because the Church has not reached out. Without becoming a Paul and having the revelation of Grace, the Christian Chruch in Singapore would never be able to see Gays as Jesus sees them.
Jesus is waiting for the Gays to come back to him. He is a good God and He will wait for He has already waited for 2000 years for all the other people groups. A day for the Lord, is like a thousand years.
The Christian Church in Singapore is blessed, for God is so good, not giving them what they truly deserved. The church deserved retribution for its treatment of Gays, but instead it receives Grace, what it does not deserve. It has grown, and many great churches came and grew strongly over the last 20 years such the mega churches at Expo and Suntec. Yet, we seldom hear the message of Grace in todays Church. Instead, we hear often of the hard work and sacrifice being done and the faith that the Christians have. They sang songs about how much they gave God (Romans 12:1), but not giving any thought to being tranformed from their carnal way of thinking (Rom 12:2) hence failing to know "what is good and acceptable an perfect will of God" with respect to Gays. The Christians in Singapore only reflects the community view.
Whether the church change or not is not relevant to Christian Gays. Because we will lead our lives not by the ways of man, what others think, but by God's amazing Grace. We need God's grace, so much more than any group. There are so many Gays in the mainstream Christian Church, some hidden, others in special cell groups to 'change' them, others forced to live a celibate lifestyle !. Many are in the wilderness, not in any church due to their bad experiences. The Gay Christians in Singapore need God's amazing Grace to return to God.
Father God I pray for your Grace to fall upon the Gay Christians in Singapore. It is not by what we did, for we have not sought your face concerning the scriptures and how you see us. We have believed erroneously what was said by society and the Christian church. We have believed wrongly about how you see us. We have condemed ourselves for being Gays. We have condemend your own creation, for you created us wonderfully as Gays. Thank you Father God, for your forgiveness because of your son Jesus. We need your Grace today, to know you more with a new mind set. Set us free o Lord, renew our minds. We are not satisfied O Lord, with a portion of your Grace. We seek an abundance of your Grace, so amazing, that others will wonder why God has blessed the Chirstian Gays. Father God, lead us back to your fold, to places that we may find sanctuary. Create O Lord, cities of Refuge in Singapore where we can worship you. We knock at Heaven's door today. We bring Jesus. We seek the keys of freedom, the year of Jubilee for the Gays in Singapore, not more freedom from the Government, but a revival amongst the Gays in Singapore that they may know you and have eternal life.
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
Amazing Grace
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