Christ’s Finished Work: Gifts of Christ

24 February 2022 Leave a comment

The Fivefold Ministry

We have heard about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts but have we heard of the gifts of Christ (also called “ascension gifts”, “fivefold gifts”), and did you know that these gifts were part of Christ’s finished work? Receiving this truth would enable us to move ourselves towards Christian maturity and the fulness of the stature of Christ.

An intriguing scripture portion in Ephesians 4 explains this. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men” (Eph 4:7,8). The background is of course that of a victorious king returning to the capital to great acclaim, with captives defeated in the battlefield in chains trailing behind him. In celebration, he shares the spoils of war with the city, even though they did not fight the battles and did not deserve any reward at all. Yet the king graciously and generously gives gifts to them. Paul however was describing how Christ gave gifts to the world, particularly the church, after he had victoriously defeated Satan, sin, and death by his death on the cross and resurrection from the tomb. These must be significant gifts for they came out of the sacrifice of his life.  What are these gifts and what purpose do they serve?

The scripture goes on to explain what these gifts are: And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph4:11-13). These gifts are men and women with spiritual authority and various complementary gifts that can equip the church to do God’s will. These God-designed, holistic, complementary ministries, if welcomed in their fullness, and not partially, by the church, will bring about church effectiveness, growth, unity of faith and intimacy with God, maturity and the greater glory to God. 

The gifts of Christ are sometimes called fivefold ministry or fivefold offices, or fourfold (combining pastors and teachers into one) ministry gifts of Christ. The five are gifted people who have received grace to be used by God to bless and build the church in dimensions that complement each other to maximum impact. We need all of them.

Apostles

The apostles (“sent out ones”) are those who establish churches among unreached peoples. They evangelise the lost, equip the saints, establish the church and the doctrines, set up and equip leadership and move on to new territories. Apostles love the church and have a passion for establishing and multiplying local churches.

Prophets

The prophets forth-tell and foretell. He forth-tells in the sense of receiving God’s “now” word for God’s people and faithfully declares the fresh rhema message to them, often calling them to turn from modern forms of  idolatry to God himself. God may also grant them intimations of the future which they will deliver faithfully so the individual or church may take heed and prepare, or be encouraged, strengthened and comforted. In the last days, when the love of many will wane cold, this gift of Christ needs more recognition and acceptance. Prophets love the presence of God and are passionate about delivering the current word of the Lord to fire up the hearts of God’s people.

Evangelists

The evangelists spread everywhere the good news of Jesus Christ with convincing clarity and persuasive power to the lost. They are graced to move unsaved people to open their hearts to accept the truth of the good news of Jesus Christ. They love being with lost people and they are passionate preaching Christ and his salvation to them.

Pastors

Pastors are the shepherds (literal translation) of the church and their job is to feed the sheep, care, and watch for their souls. His number one task is to be a faithful example of faithful Christian living. He is the walking visual aid that inspires, encourages and comforts the congregation to be devoted and faithful to the Lord. He loves spending time with God’s people and is passionate about growing them in the love of God.

Teachers

Teachers love to inform, instruct, and explain the things of God using Scriptures. They love to make fundamental teachings of the Bible accessible, clear and applicable for God’s people, whatever their level of understanding. Faithfulness to the meaning of the text, and diligence to live out the truth are their bottom line. Teachers love spending time feeding on Scriptures and are passionate about communicating truth effectively.

Welcome Mat

The gifts of Christ are God’s gifted servants appointed to bring different nutrients to the body of Christ and together they impart a balanced, multi-faceted ministry the church needs for growth into the maturity and purity and beauty of the Bride of Christ, ready to be received by Christ the Bridegroom.

God is faithful and will provide these gifted people to the Body of Christ. It is for us to recognise who they are and roll out the welcome mat so the church can receive their complementary gifts with thanks, and grow in maturity.

This is the seventh in a twenty six series of A to Z of Christ’s Finished Work. Click HERE to access the earlier posts>

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Impact of ACS Clock Tower Revival: 50th Anniversary

15 February 2022 4 Comments

This Is The Lord’s Doing

The ACS Clock Tower revival is one part of what God was doing in the 1970’s. I would call it the 1970s Charismatic Revival as the fires that were lit among the mainline Anglican and Methodist churches, among students in schools (of which one is ACS), and at Jedburg Gardens, all happened during the early 1970s and continued to burn strongly for about a decade. This revival would have great impact on the renewal and growth of the church in Singapore and overseas.

In my case, I was spiritually born and bred in the revival atmosphere that began in the backside of science laboratories of Dunearn Secondary Technical School in the middle of 1972. When I reflect on what happened 50 years ago, I cannot help but exclaim with the Psalmist: “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes” (Psalm 118:23)

The impact of the 1970s Charismatic Revival would vary in significance and lasting fruit. The Anglican renewal’s impact would have the greatest of lasting outcomes as it touched its top leadership, the bishops Chiu Ban It and Moses Tay. Furthermore, Rev Dr James Wong brilliant channeling of renewed Anglican members into church planting works resulted in the formation of several churches that are well established churches today: tangible monuments to the work of the Spirit. The ACS Clock Tower school students’ influence, unlike the top-down of the Anglicans, would be ground-up. It would go on to open the heavy doors of the Methodist Church to the fresh wind of the Spirit, and this was clearly miraculous because students, even Spirit-filled ones, were pretty low in the church hierarchy. The Jedburg Gardens revival would be associated with the formation of the Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship International, a super-spreader of the renewal to all other denominations in the 1970s. The Dunearn Secondary Technical School revival became a local church with a strong focus on missions, World Revival Prayer Fellowship.

1970s Charismatic Revival Bore Much Fruit

One of the blessings of the 1970s Charismatic Revival was that it facilitated the gathering together of churches of different traditions and beliefs, and prepared the way for unity movements like the Love Singapore unity movement, and the great inter-denominational events like Here’s Life Singapore, Billy Graham Crusade and Festival of Praise.

It would result in the renewal of many nominal members in traditional churches. It would be a great spiritual awakening of first love for Jesus. Their lives would be turned upside down by the Spirit’s dynamic power and compel them into zealous works of service and ministry. Like people madly in love they would boldly spread the gospel and the blessing of renewal everywhere: in schools, homes, and the marketplace. Thousands came to Christ during the revival.

While many of these revived saints will remain in their vocations and be effective salt and light where they were, for some, this experience of first love would result in these revived saints leaving their jobs to go into full time Christian vocations: in churches, mission fields and para-church ministry. Personally, I could count about 20 persons I know from the Dunearn revival who have gone into missionary or pastoral work. I cannot imagine the numbers in other bigger more significant centers of revival.

The growth of the Christian church in Singapore and its expanded role in missions may be attributed to the 1970s Charismatic Revival which sort of raised the tide of spiritual renewal to overcome personal and church structural barriers to evangelism and missions. I would even say that the rise of many of the megachurches could be traced back to the influence of the 1970s Charismatic Revival. 

For those who want to read a well-researched, notable and comprehensive work that described the 1970s Charismatic Revival do purchase and read, “Unfolding His Story” by Georgie and Galven Lee (pic below).

To read more about factors surrounding this this revival, go HERE.

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“Departure Points” by Tony Siew: Book Reflection

3 January 2022 Leave a comment

Reading “Departure Points” was a breeze and I completed the book more quickly than most. The reading overtook some other books which I had started reading a few weeks earlier. I typically read about five to ten books at a time, dipping into any of them as my whim or mood fancies. The language is informal and it was an easy and interesting read. 

I first met the author through reading his blog. Then when he was in Singapore, we had a few meals together, and he also preached in World Revival Prayer Fellowship, the church I served. In our limited meetings and from reading his blog, what impressed upon me is that he is a man of deep convictions, who works hard at teaching and preaching God’s word, and displays great love for the SIB (Sidang Injil Borneo) churches. Reading this book has given me more insights into his gifts and character. I can see how he obtained a well of wisdom in church leadership – both parochial and denominational – from his wide experience and postings in different settings and countries. 

“Departure Points” gives a quick and easy account of the life and ministry of Rev Dr Tony Siew. The settings changed quickly, from local to denominational, from Sabah to New Zealand to Singapore, from urban church to rural church, from rich city church to poor village church, and denominational seminary to established regional seminary. His ministry roles were as widely varied as his settings: pastor, writer, researcher, denominational treasurer and fundraiser, itinerant preacher to rural churches, seminary lecturer, scholar presenting papers at international conferences, and acting principal of a denominational seminary. The book’s title is clearly appropriate. 

I liked the book for its easy read and my interest in this Sabah denomination which began with Holy Spirit outpourings in the mid-1970’s, about two or three years later than the revivals that began in Singapore. It demonstrated the power of the Spirit in missions and evangelism and natural church multiplication. Till today the Spirit’s activity is still part of the DNA of the church and I do pray it stays that way for the tendency is for such DNA to fade into obscurity with the passage of time, and the equipping of seminary lecturers in seminaries that restrict the Spirit’s work.

I admire the work of the foreign missionaries from Australia (Borneo Evangelical Mission/ OMF) who successfully passed on the baton to the local pastors and leaders and left behind a model of church polity that required plurality of leadership. This has given a lot of stability (despite the slow speed of decisions and execution). The history of foreign missions is littered with missionaries that held on the power for too long and did not contextualize polity to suit the culture they had evangelized. But these Aussie missionaries did well. No doubt the Spirit was upon them to guide them.

Through Tony’s report of his story, I have a better understanding of the SIB denomination and the local churches in the city and the rural villages, and how they operated, and the challenges they faced. He is the only ethnic Chinese pastor among the scores of pastors and church leaders (from the major tribal ethnic groups) that fulfilled the many leadership roles in church and denomination. It is grace on the part of the tribal majorities and upon Tony’s ministry that he was promoted to strategic positions and appointments during his sacrificial tenure of ministry in the denomination. 

I could see that while he is multi-talented and very responsible and capable, his strong convictions, sense of responsibility and courage occasionally landed him in no man’s land and within the crosshair of his critics’ rifle scopes. He is a courageous and forthright leader, passionate as a scholar of God’s truth, and as a pastor-lover of God’s church. I cannot help but feel that a mission that suits him and will make a great contribution to SIB is some kind of wide-ranging and influential role in reformation and implementation of the training of future pastors of the SIB.

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Thank You, Rev Dr Yonggi Cho

24 September 2021 Leave a comment

“Another one?”, I said to myself. So many notable servants of God have gone home to glory these past five years. I heard news that David Yonggi Cho, the Korean founding pastor of the 800,000 members Yoido Full Gospel Church, largest megachurch in the world, and founder of Church Growth International, had died at age 85. 

Yonggi Cho in Singapore

Did you know that before K-Drama, and K-Music hit Singapore, we here hit by K-Church? I had fond memories of pastor Yonggi Cho, when he visited and preached in Singapore several times in the 1980s. If I recall correctly, the Assemblies of God brought him in to conduct a church growth conference at the Hilton Hotel. I remember attending that conference. A Korean preacher who spoke in English with an interesting accent. He preached with passion, intensity and inspiration. His messages were simple to outline and understand, peppered with inspiring personal stories from his life and pastoral ministry. He shared his victories and his failures with humility and honesty. I remember being charged up and inspired by his preaching and attended his meetings enthusiastically whenever he preached or taught in Singapore. On a few occasions he took evangelistic meetings too, one in NTUC Conference Hall, and even in the former National Stadium. You could always expect him to inspire you with faith and hope. 

His preaching legacy

Some of his key messages were on the importance of fasting and prayer and the home cell group for church growth; the fourth dimension of faith visualisation; God’s desire for us to prosper in spirit, soul and body, and the Holy Spirit as our Senior Partner. He always spoke to people’s needs with words of faith and encouragement spiced up with positive and inspiring stories. I have also read quite a few of his books.

In these pandemic months when hybrid church is prevalent, his preaching philosophy is particularly relevant for online audiences:

  1. Preach to people’s pain and needs.
  2. Keep the sermon topical and the outline simple to follow. 
  3. Give your main ideas punch with stories and illustrations.
  4. Aim to inspire faith, hope and love.
  5. Speak with conviction.

His mixed church growth legacy

Many pastors were inspired by his teachings and that has helped them to grow their churches. There is no doubt that his teachings and the example of the growth of his church have sparked the growth of many churches around the world. At the same time, it has also led to increased negative pressure on pastors because church leaders developed unrealistic expectations of rapid numerical church growth from the pastor of their churches, despite the pastors gifts being different from those of David Yonggi Cho’s. This is the downside which we do not hear about often enough. Not many pastors have the same faith, gifts and personality as him, nor do they live in the same Korean culture and economic environment as his church, but we naively believe we can do the same by simply applying the principles of church growth. With time and lack of success, many became disillusioned, frustrated and discouraged. 

Tarnished legacy

Sadly, in the later years of his life, his legacy was tarnished by a financial scandal. Christianity Today summarized it this way: “In his retirement, Cho faced his most serious scandal. He was found guilty of embezzling funds from the church and was given a three-year suspended sentence. He had directed leadership of the church to buy unlisted stocks owned by his eldest son. The value was inflated, and the church reported lost about 13 billion won, the equivalent of about US$12 million. He was also found guilty of evading taxes in the stock deal. Cho told his church that the conviction was the hardest day in his life of ministry. But he also said his conscience was clear before God, and the church allowed him to continue in part-time ministry. His supporters said Cho was really guilty of being too naive about his wayward son and argued Cho has not personally benefitted from the stock scam or his many years in ministry. He continued to preach at the church on occasion until his health deteriorated in 2020.” The dangers of being influential and powerful are evident in many stories of famous godly men, and it underlines for all servants of God the need to grow in awareness, wholeness and holiness in our interior lives and to take up the full armour of God to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Nevertheless I thank you!

I was very privileged and blessed to have seen and heard him preach in Singapore and to inspire the younger me with hope. In those days, his books have blessed me with their simplicity and power. His prayer life and partnership with the Holy Spirit were exemplary and encouraging. Thank you, Rev. Dr David Yonggi Cho. 

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Racism And The Church

30 June 2021 2 Comments

Racism is a hot topic today all over the Western world and even in multi-racial Singapore. The backdrop of the death of George Floyd and “Black Lives Matter” in the past year, and recent local discussions about racism make this topic something all Christians should be knowledgeable about, so that we can be formed to be effective witnesses in our attitudes, conversations with people and in our online interactions.

I preached this message “RACISM AND THE CHURCH” to my home church (World Revival Prayer Fellowship) on July 2021, and decided to upload it on my BLOGPASTOR channel. It was well received by members because it was a relevant and pertinent topic on social media as well as the national newspaper. 

It is a 40 minutes full message, so if you wish to scroll to what interests you, here is a guide: 0:00 Stories of casual racism 6:48Definition of Racism 8:00 Examples of serious racism where lives were lost and the church was an accomplice 14:35 God has a multi-racial dream 16:59 We share a common ancestry 19:22 Research spun off from Human Genome Project throws light on the races 25:25 What went wrong and how it can be made right 31:44Personal action steps we can take.

I trust that this message has blessed you and you will share it with other Christians so when opportunities arise, Christians can be confident to talk about it and share about God’s multi-racial dream and His love.

If, like me, you had some experience of subtle or casual racism directed at you do share (without being vitriolic) your experiences and how you sorted out the hurts and insults in the comment box below.

POSTSCRIPT: I sent my videos to pastor friends for input, and retired pastor Seng Chor commented that mention of the creation of man in the image of God (Genesis 1:27)should shape our view of how we view people of other races: with respect and graciousness. This certainly is the foundation on which to frame our view of race equality and multi-ethnic relations. Thanks, Seng Chor.

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