Luke 14:15 When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said
to Jesus, “Blessed is the one who will eat at the feast in the kingdom
of God.”
Luke 14:23 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and
country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.
On Sat 04 Aug 12, the Rev O Young of MCC New York
made history again in Malaysia by having one of the first gay marriage
wedding banquet at the Berjaya Times Square in Bukit Bintang shopping
triangle. O Young had come to fame by having the first church service
that is affirming of gay people in the opening of MCC Kuala Lumpur in
Aug 2007.
I had earlier went to the MCC church in KL to get
the details of the banquet venue and happened to drop by a conference
featuring O Young.
As I was leaving the conference via the lift at
Viva Home in Miharja Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, I asked one of the
attendees of a church conference which church he was from? He replied “I
just got kicked out from xxxx Assembly of God”. He was young man, and
his voice and looks of innocence grieves my heart.
Through that young man, I had an image of them
kicking Jesus out from the Church. Surely they had kicked Jesus out from
the Jewish religious synagogues and put Him on the Cross.They had crucified this young man and perhaps his faith as well.
They kicked him out of the AOG church because he
was gay and he now attends a conference where Malaysia’s most famous gay
pastor was speaking. I have seen it all before. Soon they will no longer
attend church.
This young man like countless others was given no
love, no grace, and no mercy. They had judged according to the letter of
the religious law without considering the mitigating circumstances that
we are born gay.
My mind wandered off to Full Gospel Assembly KL who are championing
the anti-gay Christian movement in Malaysia, and to the CHC court case
in Singapore where Malaysia’s own CHC KL has been implicated as a proxy
for the mis-use of funds.
The Christian voices I heard at the SG and Mly
churches of not judging Kong Hee before the court verdict was due, of
standing by CHC in prayer, of the CHC pastors maintaining their
integrity and innocence, of the top lawyers being employed to defend the
accused.
Every legal move would be used in the coming months
to defend Kong Hee and fellow pastors to fully exercise their rights to
tell their side of story and maintain their innocence and integrity.
The young Gay Christian man at the lift had no
rights, had no justice. He was proclaimed guilty, charged by the church
for being a gay man, and duly expelled.Will he come back to the Christian faith again? Who knows?
The innocence of the young gay Christian man so
contrasted with the vast amount of money (lawyer cost is 2.5K Mly a day)
over the coming months to defend Kong Hee from charges.
Kong Hee may of course not be found guilty to the
fact being defended by the best legal advocates in SG, yet who vouch for
young man who has been kicked out from the church, who has been kicked
out of the Christian Faith.
When the churches kick out gays because they are
too holy for these sinful gay people to corrupt their image and
integrity, there comes one day when the walls of the church will come
down, and people will see us naked – for everything will be stripped
away.
I am reminded that the case of the Monk Ming Yi,
the persecution even found out which casino he attended, car he bought,
horses he betted on and bought, and even the VCDs he watched. Everything
was exposed in the course of the court proceedings.
The next 12 months will be such a shaking of the
churches in Singapore and Malaysia. We have been shouting out loud our
righteous holy indignation against gays, but we will be judged by the
law and by peoples of other faiths.
I cried silently for the gay Christian young man in
the descending lift. I smiled perhaps the last time I will see him.
The time is today, for fields are white unto a
rainbow harvest, for new Apostolic ministries to build new cities of
refuge – altars of worship unto Jesus, our risen Lord and Saviour.
The gay wedding banquet in Malaysia is an
invitation to all, to come out of the closet of their fears. The
season has changed. It is now to celebrate for our freedom.
The churches will continue to expel gays, but no one can take our
freedom away. Fear has no hold anymore in our lives.
The stone of fear has been rolled away. It is time to come out. New
ministries and places of worship will be built by God as we make choices
to come out.
The exodus has started for all are invited by Jesus to the banquet
to celebrate the coming of the Messiah, to come just as we are to
worship God in truth and in the spirit.
It's time to go Home - to come out and to rest for we have been
fighting for too long. There's nothing more to fear.
We are called to "Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel
them to come in, so that my house will be full" - to go out to gay
christians in the lonely desert places to bring them Home to the House
of God to receive the embrace of Jesus Christ, for the new Gay Apostolic
churches will be full.