John 14: 1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe
also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so,
I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to
Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you
know, and the way you know.” 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know
where You are going, and how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him,
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through Me.
When the trial of CHC is over, it does not diminishes the fact that
Pastor Kong Hee and Sun sacrificed all, and gave their life to a cause
which has resulted in the CHC type of churches multiplying to hundreds
of churches in Asia and Australia. Put it simply, their legacy is
assured.
That said, the greatest casualty of the City Harvest trial is the Gospel
truth. People will be skeptical.
It is difficult to argue that the secret diversion of funds were for the
sake of the Gospel, at least 24 million, nothing to do with personal
fame, fortune, and self interest.
A law based theology leads to unrighteousness where fame and wealth
becomes a measure of faith and failure disdained. Sin is assigned to
gays and not our own sins.
With the trial, there will be a generation shift from the law based
leaders, to pastors that teaches the grace of God. Hitherto, it was
thought that without the law, the people will be lawless when we now
know that with the law, people will be more lawless because our self
righteousness is exalted and we couldn't see our sins, hence the law
becomes the very basis for our judgement.
We don't need the law, we need grace to redeem us when our sins are
obvious. When we insist on the letter of the law, we are liable for
judgement by the letter of the law. There is no grace in such teachings
which is not centered on Christ but the carnal ways of man.
Leading to the trial, Love Singapore, the Anglican churches, FCBC,
Church of our Saviour, Cornerstone, the Methodist churches, were raising
their banners against gays as moral defenders of Singapore. If it is two
years jail is insisted for gays because of natural love, how many years
is deserving for the CHC leaders?
The moral geographical question is pervasive in that gays are born as
such whilsts the churches were quite liberal in their assessment of
truth in their marketplace business dealings.
When we preached the law, we see ourselves guiltless whilst the lesser
sins of others are amplified to cover our sins.
Jesus said that as such when confronting the Pharisees on divorce which
technically they were not guilty because Moses allowed it. In today's
terms, it is echoed - "the auditors allowed it", "the Executive Members
approved of the investments", etc.
It was grace that changed our hearts but the teaching of the law makes
us insists that we are innocent until it gets silly and truth is the
casualty.
Truth in the grace of God is so important becomes it impacts the
integrity and voice of the church.
The obvious innocense of gays for being in love with the person of the
same sex could not but be compared to the obvious evidence of the church
leaders in secretely diverting 24 million on funds to pop up the career
of the pop star pastor's entry into Hollywood.
For 6 days in trial they tried to hide, deny the fact of the matter, and
then on the final day when the evidence accumulated, finally declared
the open secret that their actions were "honestly" for the pop star.
With the trial expected to go into early 2014, the scene of mega pastors
denying obvious truths until then will not be a good image for the
integrity of the Gospel.
When our honest truth is somewhat grey to the secular world, then the
Gospel is maligned. We need the grace of God and not to continue to
insist on our integrity.
Even the best Counsel would need a miracle to link the pastors secular
career as having anything to do with the church. It would have been
different if she had given an altar call after the chinawine video.
The thick fog of the churches strong insistence that gays be jailed
means that the church leaders will have to be dealt in a likewise
manner.
We had insisted punishment for the innocent, and so our judgement will
be amplified because God is a righteous God.
It's a geographical cloud that deliveres the harsh hail stones of the
same measure of judgement that hovers over the case.
As we enter into the evening, before darkness comes, let us light up the
Menorah, for the light to point to Jesus again, the centre of it all.
Sometimes we wander why Jesus had lived simply in the desert where
people will go from their city comforts to seek after God.
We must too crossed over from our secular, humanistic Christianity back
to the Jesus of the desert, one of power, grace, love, and mercy. Let
Jesus be the way, the truth and the life. It is all by grace.
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