Further to Faith Community Baptist Church (FCBC) reluctantly compensating the preganant former employee sacked for adultery to comply with a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) ruling, Pastor Lawrence Khong of FCBC has escalated the matter to the Supreme Court in Singapore for a judicial review.

In the greatest of irony, the adulteror worked in the Marriage Department of FCBC, and the man in the affair was also a church worker. But was it really adultery if there was an ongoing divorce proceedings.

As religious faiths can have many different values and even contradicting beliefs, a common basic set of rules and legal morality is required to protect the basic rights of the employee. Otherwise, it will be required to be specified in the work contract to include the Ten Commandments!.

Apparently such comprehensive bible based do and don'ts were not fully stated in the work contracts. It could also never cover all possibilities as the Jews found out creating many hundreds of new laws to add to the Ten Commanments.

If they were biblical, they should also include the punishments eg stoning etc. But alas, that would contradict the Singapore's laws on capital punishment which is not mandated for adultery or divorce.

In the Construction industry, we are usually vary and repectful of the MOM who could order a stop work order or issue out fines for safety violation. But it appears that FCBC has taken a more firm approach being a mega church of 10,000 strong. We could hear them declaring "This is our religious right!", and "We demand respect".

Indeed, it is about The Religious Right. Pastor Khong is an Apostle of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement. Instead, of staying closeted in the monastry and doing  religious good works of helping the poor and the sick, a more aggressive church movement into the market place with generals or Apostles was embraced.

The market place is defined as in Love Singapore's Transformation 2009 where Khong is the chairman, as transforming the religion, government,  Business, Family, Education, Media, and Entertainment. This is also referred to as the seven mountains theology, a coming out of the church from the religious mountain to engage other mountains.

When the Government gave space to Love Singapore and former NMP Thio to pursue their anti-gay aggenda to put gays in jail at Parliament and even recently to meet up with the Minister of Law against 377a, it is apparent that gays are being used as the wedge issue and entry point to extend the churches influence using a hot button issue.

Once space is given (to the detriment of the much weaker gay community), they will expect much more. The challenge to the MOM secular laws by FCBC, and by extension Love Singapore (a large grouping of 100 big churches) where Pastor Lawrence Khong is the chairman sends a strong signal.

 In essence, the church is demanding to be respected and given special rights. Perhaps, this is the actual gay aggenda where the church has influence over the mountains of the nations.

Why was there so much angst by FCBC against MOM? when they had clearly made their strong stance against adultery known!. Apparently, it appears that they felt little respect was given especially when the "unrelated" incident of Pastor Lawrence Khong's daughter having a baby in wedlock was mentioned!

 The  judicial review at the Supreme Court is ongoing but certainly many will be vary of giving too much space to these churches beyond their right to practise their faith. They thought that the moral defenders of Singapore will be satisfied with locking up gays, but they are now after bigger mountains.

Is this more about power and pride? the temptation that Satan offered to Jesus in the desert.

But Jesus chose the way of humility and emptiness, that we might be full and be blessed to show that God is a good God.

When we emphasised Christianity as a law minded religion, we are protraying Jesus of Nazareth as the Pharisees of Jerusalem! who were His greatest enemies, for one is of the Law and the other of Grace.

It is time for the church in Singapore, to rise up and let the message of God's grace in Jesus arise rather than becoming moral defenders when we ourselves may be the greatest sinners.

It is all by Grace through our Lord Jesus and nothing of ourselves.

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PDF. Seven Mountains theology