Archive for January, 2007
One of the detours we had to take was to visit this little child who had a terrible, awful looking hare-lip and gum problem. She was brought to the Yangon church in December and the church adult team was there to minister. I think the team did so well. They prayed for the girl’s healing; and in a compassionate and practical step, paid for her healing. So here is one legitimate option for the healing ministry: by prayer and paying. One of the sisters, Martha Wong, being a practical person said, “Here take this money and get it done!” ( I like this: pray in faith; act in love).They entrusted S$50 to the pastor and the detour was to check if its done. The hospital could not have said it better, “HEALED WELL.” Hallelujah.
Just an aside, if you want to keep complaining about the cost of medical care here in Singapore, you might want to consider migrating to Myanmar.
January 31st, 2007
Well I think we have a good missions pastor in Thomas Tan. He is a very giving person and he surprised our Yangon partner with a photo album of their recent wedding, several A4 enlarged photos, and even picture frames. Pastor John and his wife Rosie, were so happy to receive them.
He takes to Yangon like fish to water. Though his knowledge of Bama language is minute
he was game to use whatever he had with the taxi-driver, hawkers, waiters. I guess thats the best way to acquire a new language: just use it! He said he attended a course on linguistics that taught you how to acquire a new language in the mission field, and it had helped him to learn Pashtu while serving in Pakistan, and now the same principles are applied in Yangon! He bought a Lonely Planet Bama phrase handbook for just $1 (printed in India).!!
He has accumulated quite a good number of local contacts, and uses them to arrange for all the many mission exposure trips we have had to Myanmar. His years in Peshawar has given him a nose for discerning the local pastors and workers. He is cautious about the use of money as it can create an unhealthy dependency among the locals on foreigners. He would rather help sparingly with finance, and seek rather to help them trust God, and also develop self-supporting skills. For instance we buy them a piglet and they rear it to maturity to sell at a profit and buy another or two piglets and so on. Another example is we buy the bible school a candle making machine and they go out with the candles to sell to the residents, befriending them and creating opportunities for sharing the good news too.
We also met a number of individual missionaries and pastors to make arrangements
receive updates and encourage them, and even found time for Terence, a young man our youths bonded well with, as he needed specific encouragement. So we had dinner with him at a cultural show cum dinner buffet near the hotel. He is a young chap with great potential and seeking God’s best. We prayed and entrusted him and his future to the Lord.
January 30th, 2007
In most corporate websites that I develop, I would include links to two pages named ‘Terms of Use’ and ‘Privacy Policy’ at the footer of the website. Privacy Policy serves to assure the users that although information are collected from the users to give us feedback on the websites, we will not be able to identify anyone individually unless you choose to do so otherwise. I generally do not have problem with the document ‘Privacy Policy’, but as I look at a ‘Terms of Use’ document I drafted out for a non-profit organisation 2 years ago, I started feeling very uncomfortable, and that it might not be suitable for use by a church.
Headers included in a “Terms of Use†document:
- Proprietary & Copyrights
- Restrictions on use of contents
- Intellectual Property Rights
- Disclaimer of Warranties and Liabilities
- Rights of Access
- Members Account, Password and Security
Basically, in the first three headers, the organisation lays claims to all ownership of all the graphics, designs, music and content of the website, and explicitly states that no one is allowed to distribute the content of the website without prior written permissions. In fact, it claims full copyrights to all contents of the website; in other words, all rights reserved.
Should churches claim full copyrights to any creative work?
I used to think that churches, like other any other organisations, should be entitled to full copyrights of any creative works to recognise the hard work put in by the people who have worked hard to produced it.
But not any more.
I recognise that craftsmanship, skills in arts, music etc. are gifts of the Holy Spirit. It would be hubris for us to think that we are entitled to such skills. We are not entitled to anything. It’s by His grace that we are given such talents, and all glory must go back to Him. But more importantly, we all belong to a body of Christ. The body of Christ is not restricted to the church. It is a global body of Christ, one that transcends beyond boundaries. Spiritual gifts are given and must be used to edify one another:
1 Corinthians 12
7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.
12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.
By claiming full copyrights, then are we giving due credit to God? Are we allowing other churches to make use of the inspirations, which ultimately come from God? We are called to serve God, not for our self-exaltation.
What alternatives are there?
The Creative Commons License looks like a plausible alternative to full copyrights. It allows anyone to “keep your copyright while inviting certain uses of your workâ€. I think this is to be encouraged. Firstly, it recognises the work and effort put in by man. Although man would ultimately need to learn to seek affirmations from God, but acknowledgements in other kinds always give a positive push to the worker. Furthermore, it allows distribution of the content, as long as the user give the due proper credit. I like the distribution part as we are all co-workers in Christ, brothers and sisters. Why then should we not share what our Father has so graciously given us?
So richly received, so richly give…
January 30th, 2007
When I started developing Blogpastor, I came across websites that talks about the need to market the church effectively. I know about tools of evangelism, especially those pertaining to the Internet, but I have not really implemented them. Websites and weblogs are powerful tools, and they can reach audience that other methods would otherwise not work. While I understand the urgency of the Great Commission, I’m not quite sure if marketing should be carried out on a church.
What is marketing?
My greatest reservation in using church marketing lies in the definition of marketing. Philip Kotler has defined marketing as “human activity directed at satisfying needs and wants through exchange processesâ€. In marketing, the main aim is to arouse in people that they have a need for a particular product. Therefore, in church marketing, one will try to ’sell’ the church as a means to satisfy some needs or wants innate in us.
Marketing - the pros and cons
Church marketing can create an awareness in people about Jesus Christ. However, church marketing, if not done effectively, may be seen as simply a means to solve the problems people are facing. In other words, some people may see the church as just another product. In this world of instant gratification, God, and the church, is not a source for quick-fix to our problems. It is a moulding process, one that bears the fruit of patience eventually. I’m concerned about the rise in the 2 kinds of people as described in Luke 8:13-14:
13Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. 14The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.
It is highly plausible that these 2 groups of people may stumble others because of the fact they have slipped away, but I am more concerned that they may have never enjoyed the personal relationship with God, which is what distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. Indeed, Christianity is not a religion, because all religions are man-made. Christianity is about a true, open and personal relationship with our Creator, the one who loves us.
Should we still carry out church marketing?
My personal take on this is - yes, church marketing can still be used, as long as it is guided by the Spirit. This may sound vague and fuzzy, but it is not. Church marketing can be seen as a tool to share the Gospel to others who would otherwise not have known of it. I can also bring a slightly, yet correct perspective of Christianity to someone who would usually turn a deaf ear to. But, church marketing must not be carried out to the extreme that it distorts information or paint an overly rosy picture of what following Christ is. Neither should it be seen as the end point to bring people to Christ. I think that following up to ensure that the person grows is very important. In being in tuned with God, we will be able to know the target audience to reach and how we can market the church accurately, precisely and effectively.
God isn’t just looking at quantity, but also at quality. Marketing may be the first step, but the real work starts after winning the lost souls to Christ.
January 25th, 2007
Yesterday I was with the church group at Bukit Timah Hill, preparing for the Kinabalu climb. It was fun and I was encouraged with the turnout and the physical condition of the climbers, more so with the youths and quite so with the adults. I could see that all the youths could be my children, age-wise, being three times older than most of them. If I look at it negatively, Oh dear, I am old. If I look at it positively, Wow, I am still climbing amongst them! The latter perspective is the better choice! Here are more details on my initial impressions of the climbers.
January 22nd, 2007
My predictions of compelling weekend EPL clash of the titans:
Saturday at Anfield:  Liverpool 1   Chelsea dis-Utd 0
Sunday at Emirates:   Arsenal 0   Man Utd 0
January 20th, 2007
Daphne Hong, a friend of my friend, Jibby Jacobs, sent this interesting video clip about a child prodigy with wonderful God-given talents and inspirations. Click this link.
January 20th, 2007
At the Bukit Batok Polyclinic, the doctor, an Indian national who politely addressed me as “Sir”, (and made me wonder why he did that when no other local doc has done so), gave
me the bad news: my cholesterol level was high at 280. And he prescribed novastatins. Goodbye, meaty and oily and unhealthy foods. Besides more fruit and vegetables, I need the fruit of self-control. I need to climb more mountains. I need your prayer. Thanks.
On 23rd January, Tuesday, I fly with Pastor Thomas to Yangon, Myanmar to do some teaching on the book of Daniel and witness a first graduation in a bible school. Thomas will follow up on some matters from the last trip and prepare for the trips around the corner. Pray for us. Back the following Monday. Asked Vee my guest writer to fill in for me.
January 19th, 2007
Just want to recommend three excellent books to you folks. The first is “Hope For The World,†published by IVP,written by Dr Roland Chia, a good book on “the last things†or eschatology, for those prepared to wade through some theological background, which is important, because theology is not done in a vacuum. There were theologians before this book, and there are contemporary theologians whose ideas and thoughts the author interacts with. The author (who was my junior in trinity theological college - “he who is after me is greater than I, and I am not worthy to untie his sandalsâ€), has written with clarity and cogency, and I just found his book very helpful in solidifying my convictions about the last things. Having said this, unlike most good authors, his lectures sprinkled with wit, and preaching is even better! ( I remember being with him in a preaching team to Labuan’s Basel church before theological college days).
I also sat under Dr Simon Chan in the evening classes and found him a lucid thinker and lecturer who speaks with a “received†pronounciation, well….almost. They say he is very demanding of his students, so those who have a choice, like me, smartly choose to audit. His book is titled, “Liturgical Theology†and it has created sufficient waves to warrant the attention of well-circulated evangelical magazine “Christianity Todayâ€. I devoured this book like a hungry man and I am still going back to some of the chapters to digest some stuff. It is highly recommended reading to all evangelicals, particularly we Pentecostals and Charismatics who love to dance around the golden calf of church growth. (Yes I used to dance in a trance, but have since grown older and wiser.)
The third book, “Faithful To The Endâ€, was written by Dr Gordon Wong, brother of my friend, Norman. Now this is the most readable and user-friendly of the three. And because of this accessibility I think it will sell better. More importantly, I believe his interpretation of the book of Daniel, is a much-needed and refreshingly fresh look at an apocalyptic book that has been contorted beyond recognition by the dispensationalists, especially the professors and graduates from the famous Dallas Theological Seminary. Dr Gordon is a capable expositor too and I am sure he will be a speaker in great demand. I also believe this interpretation of Daniel is a much-needed and deeply relevant message for Myanmar today. And I wish someone or some institution would sponsor its translation into Myanmese, print a cheaper edition, and distribute it to Myanmese bible training institutes, pastors and Christians. In fact I use this text to teach a small Bible school in Yangon. In fact, I’ll be doing chapters 6 to 12 next week in Yangon.
These are three notable, relatively young theologians and outstanding lecturers of Trinity Theological College and they are highly respected internationally by others in their field of study, and by the student body. I find they are so good, that compared to the lecturers I had (no insult intended) when I was a student back in 1980’s, I feel like asking for a refund or free audits for the courses they now teach. Trinity has improved so much! …………it is light years ahead of all the other bible colleges in Singapore. I say this with absolutely no bias.
January 17th, 2007
My wife shared the Word of God to the deaf faith fellowship. The numbers have stabilized to 40 plus after a year or so of fluctuating attendance due to a key leader leaving rather abruptly and unhappily, thus affecting other deaf members. Most times when someone else preaches in the main service, I try to visit one of the other services running concurrently, to do some preaching or just to sit through and get an idea of how they are doing. In this case it was to preach on the text John 10:10 and I took the context and explained the first part of the text, “The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy….†and I pass it to Jen to talk about the second part,â€â€¦but I am come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.†I could see she was real calm and clear as she shared some principles illustrated with her life stories and I could see from the deaf members’ faces that they were encouraged. Then we prayed for those who responded and God was there to “rest†them.
Then we had a pleasant lunch with my godchildren, Jonathan and Eunice, and Joyce Leong their mum, over at my place, hearing their stories and updates. I must say they have matured and grown into independent and resourceful young adults, one passionate about his design course in Royal Melbourne Institute of Technolgy, the other running a budding business dealing with leather-bound journals (click here) being sold on-line as well as in a store. I notice that both of them have entrepreneur dreams and aspirations for the future, something most Singaporeans would find foreign, as they would rather take the safer route of being a “salarymanâ€. I think if they had stayed in Singapore they’d be just like one of us.
Is it the air in Australia or the vast opportunities it represents?
Is it too comfortable, stuffy or competitive in Singapore?
January 15th, 2007
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