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The Christian Post article dated 29 May 2009 entitiled "Evangelist Found Guilty in First Sedition Trial", indirectly praises the Christian couple calling them evangelists. In light of the claim by Mdm Thio, and some members of Parliament that the media is biased, the reporting at Christian Post seems to highlight on the contrary, ie the reporting in Christian circles seems one sided versus the mainstream media which reported the facts accurately in a neutral manner :-
Responses from the Christian Sites a) Chick Publications - Two Soul Winners Charged in Singapore (gays blamed again) b) Christian Post SG - Evangelist Found Guilty in First Sedition Trial c) The Voice of the martys - Couples charged for publishing objectionable christian material in Singapore - The biased and selective reporting and interpretation of the bible by some is not surprising as had a preconceived aggenda. Therefore, we should be careful to use experience solely to define our main theology, because we see things through our experience very differently. We tend to read the bible as "anti-gay", because we have a deep seated opinion that gays are somewhat unnatural versus heterosexuals which we consider the norm. Therefore, we superimposed our heterosexual experience into the biblical interpretation. In order to interpret the bible objectively, we should often be reflective with an open and reflective heart. Peter for example, could not see beyond his Jewish background that the grace of God extended to the Jews even though Jesus did not restrict His message to the Jews, nor required the Jewish christians to abide by the Jewish laws as a condition of faith. Instead, it was solely on believing that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Lamb of God, and to impute our sins unto Jesus, our saviour. The extension of the grace of God to the gentiles came when Peter was finally convinced by seeing the Holy Spirit falling upon the Gentiles resulting in them speaking in tongues in the House of Cornelius and much later at Antioch. Receiving the "grace of God" therefore is not an outward actions of what we are doing for God, or the fruits of the Holy Spirit, it is the tangible evidence that we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit on account of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Peter saw this by His own eyes, and so later when the reports from Antioch came, he remembered many years earlier what had happened. It is the Spirit of God that convicts us of our sins and bible misinterpretations. It may even require a great miracle as was the case of Paul with a blibnding experience from God to change his hardened heart. James, broke the silence at the Council of Jerusalem in the event that really marked the beginning of the mass and organised spread of Christianity to the Gentiles when the revelation was dawned upon them, that the grace of God extended to the Gentiles as well. It was grace, unmerited, not what they have done according to the Laws of Moses, but Grace, through believing in Jesus Christ alone.
James, the Brother of Jesus quoted from the Prophet Amos,
Their experience finally caught up with their understanding that the tabernacle of David will be rebuilt not only to include Jews but Gentiles as well. The inclusion of Gentiles (where they are called by the name of Jesus) was very troubling to the Jews and Paul have had to fight against the Judaist coming against him in his mission trips. The intrigue of modern Christianity is that we who were drafted into the line of Abraham, the line of blessing and grace through Jesus Christ, did not our ourselves extend this grace to the gay community although it was already mentioned in Isaiah where the Prophet specifically made the distinction between the Jew, Gentile, and the Eunuch in the Year of Jubilee, or the Year of Freedom from the bondage of the law. The Christian couple who distributed the tracts claimed that they did not know the content, which was illogical since the content was the driving factor behind them spending time and effort over the last 20 years to distribute them, and that the nature of content was well known and controversial even within the Christian community but freely available. Alas, how well do Christians know their own bible? or are we just a postman of the ways and tradition handed down from one generation to another without understanding that the grace of God has extended to the rainbow nation in our midsts. He was crucified above all wisdom and ways of man. One day in the court room of God, we could not again use the excuse that we do not know that we were persecuting gays and hindering them from receiving Jesus Christ because of what was commonly taught by Rev Kong hee, Rev Jospeh Prince, Rev Derek Hong, Bishop Solomon, Bishop Moses tay, Canon James Wong, Bishop Dr John Chew. We have so easily forgotten that we have been called by grace and now preached a different gospel to insist that Gays must abide by the law that we did not ourselves follow. We have rejected gays just as the Jews rejected Christ. It is time to reflect and change our ways before we too come into judgement in the heavenly courts. Above all powers above all kings Above all kingdoms above all thrones Crucified laid behind the stone
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