An Evening With Covenant Pastors

1 August 2023 Leave a comment

I attended a Covenant Pastors fellowship recently. This was not my first time experiencing the gracious hospitality and welcome in the home of Pastor Justin. He has been doing this for many many years. Long ago, I was a regular, until the pressures of ministry drew me away. Now that I have stepped down from pastoring I found myself gravitating to the fellowship. Of course, it is because I have more time and less responsibilities now. I even bring my wife these days to this and other pastors’ fellowship. 

Covenant Pastors is a fellowship of pastors and ministers from church and marketplace that has as its main focus fellowship, bonding and ministry to one another. They also focus on Singapore and the nations, and the wider Body of Christ. The fellowship is led by Rev Amos Jayarathnam, a humble but bold prophet, whom I got acquainted with in the late 1970’s. We were from World Revival Prayer Fellowship. He is the real thing, a prophet: authentic and gentle, but a lion when he delivers the word of the Lord. 

Pastor Justin Leong and his wife cooked up a sumptuous dinner for about 25 of us. It was pleasant to meet and get to know other ministers. I sat beside pastor Clare and she shared about her ministry with another church. Then we sang and worshipped the Lord (always led by Pastor Isaiah). I always loved this part – the anointing of worship helped me become keenly aware of God’s presence and always lifted up my spirit.  Pastor Beulah had a vision of a high priest with the gem stones on his breast-piece, and those gemstones had our faces reflected in them. 

Jacob Sim, a prophet and an effective marketplace minister shared a word in season from his heart. It was about how to reach the omega generation by looking from God’s PERSPECTIVE, and facilitating PERSONAL ENCOUNTERS with God, and POSITIONING.

Amos then shared with us stories of his ministry in Russia and Estonia, and prophesying over Russia, and in the spirit, over Putin. His testimonies were astounding and inspiring. I never get tired of the stories of his prophetic encounters. 

Pastor Henry then prophesied over me, and while he was prophesying, I felt a fire and heat rising up within my belly, and he too was moved by the Spirit. Later when we broke up into groups to pray for Ukraine & Russia, Singapore, and the Singapore church, I went to Henry and shared what I experienced while he was prophesying over me. There and then, Pastor Andrew shared what he saw. He saw the mantle of Isaiah 11:2 upon me: the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, and counsel. I received all their words with joy and reverence. I was indeed surrounded by prophetic ministers all around me. I will sit with these words before the Lord and continue to wait on Him. I left the fellowship that night in animated conversation with my wife, and walked with energy to the Tanah Merah MRT station. I pondered, “What does all these utterances point to?”

Have you been ministered to by prophets or prophetic ministers? Share your experience with us in the comment box.

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From CRMS to NOVO Singapore

29 July 2023 2 Comments

CRMS (Church Resource Ministries, Singapore) is now NOVO Singapore. CRMS was founded by James Creasman, and it was affiliated to CRM (US). CRM US decided to change their name to NOVO, which means “make new”, and invited other countries using CRM to change theirs too. The committee in Singapore decided to follow suit, and with that change of name a new emphasis on being missional. Read more about this in their website HERE. 

I was blessed by the CRMS’ Focusing Leaders and Coaching programs and together with others facilitated a few runs of Focusing Leaders Network in the church I served as well as outside. I also served in their committee for a few years, and before I left, I recommended Abraham Sim(Vice President, NOVO), a senior leader of World Revival Prayer Fellowship, who loves and honours pastors, with the right spirit and abilities to help CRMS, and I was pleased that he has so faithfully served in this mission for these many years. Thus when he personally invited me to the 20th Anniversary celebrations, I simply could not say No.

I enjoyed renewing contact with old comrades like Pastor How Beng (a stalwart of CRMS), Pastor Andy and Pastor Charles(the President, NOVO). Furthermore, I was surprised to meet again with missionary Mike Crow, who was the special guest. The program was ably and smoothly chaired by Abraham Sim. I heard exciting stories and presentations about the ongoing ministries that NOVO are doing from missional work in a specific community and sports outreach, to missions mentoring and member care, focusing leaders networks, coaching, and some new ones for making disciples. There was also a thanksgiving for the founders of CRMS, James and Kimberly Creasman. After the program, we had a lavish Peranakan lunch, and I sat down with marketplace leaders from other churches and listened to their stories of how the NOVO helped them. It was a happy and meaningful morning for me and I felt pleased with all that the Lord has done for and through them.

Have you been blessed by this ministry? If you have been blessed, do drop a comment and share your personal thanksgiving or well wishes for NOVO, to celebrate their 20thanniversary on 8th July 2023.

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Pastoral ministry, Singapore churches

A Simple Tribute To A Simple Brother

10 July 2023 2 Comments

I received this from my friend Eric Ng. It was a lovely tribute from a younger brother to a brother who lived alone and died alone. I read it and could not put it down. If it had not been for this well written tribute, the deceased would have been another statistic to add to the increasing numbers who died in their homes (unknown to their loved ones). Another tragic and worrying report in the news with surface information about the person that departed and little about the life he or she lived. This tribute I read gave a beautiful portrait of a man who zealously sought the Lord and shared the good news about Jesus Christ to others. The tribute crowned the stark report with grace and dignity. I felt moved to share this with others through this blogpost, and if it touches your heart, do share this touching tribute with even more people. Here it is:

A SIMPLE TRIBUTE TO A SIMPLE BROTHER

The Bible says, “It is appointed for men to die once…” (Heb 9:27a). That’s the edict from the Giver of Life who also has the equal right to take back the life when it has reached a destined expiry date.

On 26 June 2023, Shin Min Daily News wrote an article with this as headline: ELDERLY MAN PASSES AWAY IN TOA PAYOH FLAT, PLANTS STARTED WILTING A WEEK EARLIER. How unceremonious an epitaph! Then came the subheading: “77-Year-Old Elderly Man Passes Away In Toa Payoh Flat, Discovered After Foul Smell Detected.” SMDN is correct to make this sad commentary: “Whenever an elderly person who lives alone passes away, it’s always heartbreaking news. This is especially as the deceased would have left this world all alone, with nobody knowing of their demise until a decaying corpse is found.”

But it’s more heart wrenching for his next-of-kin to find out secondhand about this news from others. This lonely, elderly man is my second brother. He lived an ordinary life – ranked 5th in line in a family of 7 siblings.

Growing up with him, I remember his easy-go-lucky lifestyle. He hardly gave my parents any trouble. He was liked in his kampong. His greatest passion was playing hockey. He wasn’t a brilliant student but he got a Grade II result that qualified him to take a job with the civil service.

John grew up in the Westmoreland/Dorset area. Like most of the kampong boys, he smoked, gambled, and spoke with machine-gun speed vulgarities in the Chinese, Malay, and English [his only deficiency was Tamil ]. It wasn’t until 1966/7 that he seasoned his speech with salt and gave up his few vices when he was wondrously converted to Christianity. He became an intrepid witness for Christ. Soon, some of his kampong friends joined him in embracing the Christian faith—when they saw the radical transformation in his life.

Possessed by a passion to win souls for Christ, John began to witness to many of the kampong boys. Not long, he got some of them to follow him to attend a nearby church in Moulmein Rise. The church is still there and is still called Revival Centre. At this time, I had moved out of my mother’s house to live with my sister. But I would visit my mum every week. During those times, John and I would engage in serious conversations—mostly doctrinal and theological in nature. His love for God’s Word was almost unstoppable. He would spend hard earned money to buy books directly from overseas publishers. Many of the books were written by the renowned authors like DeVerne Fromke (Unto Full Stature, Ultimate Intention), C S Lewis (Mere Christianity), Carl F H Henry (Evangelism and Theology based books.

One vicarious benefit I got from John’s enthusiastic witness was in the 1960s when at a special rally conducted by A/G Singapore. Tommy Barnette, the famous evangelist, came to SG and the rally was held at the old Victoria Memorial Hall. That day, Tommy Barnette decided to award the person who brought the most people to the rally. It turned out that John had brought the most people but he told me to go forward on his behalf and accept the ‘reward’ of an LP cut by Tommy Barnette. Thank you John for that special gift.

Some time later, I told John about my church’s weekly Wednesday Bible Study. I boasted about my teacher’s incredible expository skills. That teacher is Sis Margaret Seaward. I was then attending Bethel Assembly. That church was located at 4 Palm Grove Avenue, off Flower Road, off Upper Serangoon Road (famously called Hougang 6th Mile). It was a long journey by bus from my mum’s house in Westmoreland. Despite the inconvenience, John decided to join me in Bethel not only for the Wednesday Bible Study but also the Friday ‘Glory Meeting”, i.e., Pentecostal Prayer Meeting. He never left Bethel until he started a church and called it Lord’s Grace (I may not have this name right, but I knew he started an informal ‘gathering of saints’ to champion his belief of the Apostolic Faith.

I write all these so that my FB friends from CCC/VFC and from the Westmoreland/Dorset group, who’re also friends of my Bro John Lui, should know some of the less known facts about him. John was a recluse and lived a very private life. That accounts for his dying alone and unknown until the news became public in SMDN.

I thank God that some of my friends had read the article in Chinese and could identify from highlighted facts that it was about John. The friends on my WhatsApp group, CCC Staff, alerted me of John’s death. I was only told of this in the late afternoon. That started me doing a bit of enquiries with the police. I could confirm with them that the person identified as a 77-year old man, who died in Blk 174 Toa Payoh, was my brother. Later this morning, I’ll be collecting his body. I will give him a simple cremation and bid him a simple farewell. He’s now in a much better place of comfort and rest—safe in the arms of his loving Saviour and cradled at His bosom.

John, I will meet you soon – over there on the beautiful shore of heaven. What we didn’t get time of earth to share as we did in my younger years, we’ll have eternity to do it! You lived a life that was pleasing to God. I would be remiss, John, if I failed to mention this. As it is, I already failed to say thank you inf life. Now, I want to say a VERY BIG THANK YOU for those years you quietly put the ‘Pentecostal’ handshake and gave me money when I was short of paying my Bible School fees. God used you to be the occasional, miraculous intervention when I was hard up of money. I know God took notice of what you did privately. He will reward you publicly in heaven. Thank you, John.

You had run and completed the race. You can now take your deserved rest in the Presence of your wonderful Lord and Saviour.

I thank God for the privilege of finding out at the very last minute of your demise and body which I will be claiming in two hours’ time. Rest well my dear brother. Until we meet again,

Your brother-in-the-flesh and
Your brother-in-the-Lord
Peter Lui

An online article about this and other similar deaths can be read HERE.

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The Preaching Style of Bishop Robert Solomon

28 December 2022 6 Comments

Preaching style has to do with the preferred ways a preacher uses to communicate truth with his audience. This includes verbal as well as non-verbal communication; the way the talk is organised, structured and presented, and the way the preacher’s personality comes through.

Besides reading scores of books on homiletics since seminary, I find it fascinating to observe and learn from the way other preachers preach. There is much to glean, and some discoveries are useful to weave into one’s personal preaching style.

On 27th November 2022, Bishop Robert Solomon was the guest preacher in World Revival Prayer Fellowship, my home church. He is a well-known former lecturer and Principal of Trinity Theological College, and had served as the Methodist Bishop, and is a prodigious author of many books.

I have read his book, “Till Christ is Formed in Us”, a book gift from my good friend Seng Chor, who had invited him a few times to speak about spiritual formation to the men’s ministry in Holy Grace Presbyterian Church. I always wondered what kind of preacher he was. Some write well but preached ineffectively. Others preached well, but wrote poorly. By the end of the sermon, I was convinced he excels in both, a rare combination indeed!

It was the first time I heard him preach. He connected well with the church and I was so moved by his message that I went on to listen to him on YouTube. There are things I observed in his messages that the most experienced preachers need reminders of.  We preachers can constantly grow in our wholeness in Christ, and hone our craft of preaching, by imitating the good we see in other models who preach what they faithfully live out. I here offer my observations of Bishop Solomon’s preaching style. 

First, his presentations are in a conversational tone. He preaches like he would talk with anyone, but with an enhanced tone. He does not have the dramatic preaching tone of revival preachers of old, nor the booming thunder of evangelists like Billy Graham and Reinhard Bonnke. His manner of speech does not grab the attention. Rather, the conversational tone gradually draws one into a circle of trust. The listener would feel like he or she was listening comfortably to a friend, feeling relaxed and open. There is sufficient variation in the tone of his voice not to sedate you into a daydream. He does not read from the manuscript, but he refers to his notes occasionally. He is stationary most of the time, keeping guard of the word, standing behind the pulpit, a cameraman’s dream. 

Second, he takes pains to preach the real meaning of the text. Isn’t this what every preacher is supposed to do? He preaches the truth in the context of the passage and the whole book. He explains what verses his truth, insights are drawn from, clearly basing them on the scriptures as the source of authority. When required, he explains the cultural practices of that time and the historical context and draws rich insights from them. Occasionally, he dips into the original Greek text to highlight a truth. He is well-read, with theological breadth and depth and a grasp of what’s happening in the society and world events, and he constructs a bridge in “between two worlds”, to use the sub-title of John Stott’s well-written book on “Preaching”. 

Third, his sermons have a logical outline that can be followed even though he does not use power-point. He is probably one of those who does not believe in using power-point in sermons. He is orderly and disciplined and seldom veer and meander from his main outline. He shows how the different points relate to the central truth he was delivering.

Fourth, his sermons have substance and interesting insights. He does not squeeze, or force, or stretch scriptures to come up with fanciful angles and fresh interpretations. His words are deliberately plain, unvarnished of theological terms, but effectively conveys the truth. Solomon is no Spurgeon, whose sermons are rich, with every sentence containing a flourish: a turn of phrase, a metaphor or simile or image. These days nobody preaches like Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers. Maybe, I would make an exception of Peter Chao of Eagles Communications. I think, Obama did speak in this grand oratorical style though.

Fifth, Bishop Robert Solomon connects well with the church audience because he explains and applies the truth with examples, analogies, illustrations, stories, and practical ideas of how to practice the truth he was expounding. He has a good sense of humour and he is able to help local believers laugh at themselves and the way they behave in church and in ordinary life. He is never harsh in his critique of Singaporean church life, values and it’s witness in the marketplace. He gently reproves. He uses humour to disarm. He provokes by handing us the mirror of the word to make us think and feel more deeply. This is an art, it is not easy to do.

I have written enough. Maybe those who have heard more of his sermons and messages, his congregation members or students in seminary, can contribute their observations with their comments. I am sure many have been blessed by his preaching ministry. Please feel free to share your observations or how you have been blessed.

By the way, the sermon Bishop Robert Solomon preached in my home church can be accessed directly at the 1 hour 8 minutes mark of the video HERE.

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Having A Blessed Covid Christmas

26 December 2022 Leave a comment

On Wednesday, my wife had a bad sore throat and cough. She had been accompanying her brother in and out of the National University Hospital because of an eye problem. She probably caught it from these frequent hospital visits. She tested herself and found that she was covid-positive. The home quarantine began that very Wednesday evening.

I was worried because I had to preach an evangelistic message in my home church on Christmas Day during the morning worship service. I quickly informed Ps Alvin Lim, the pastor of the English congregation. The decision was that he would be on standby while I continued to prepare to preach. 

While I was adding the final touches to the sermon, I had also taken over my wife’s role of accompanying her brother to the eye clinic for surgery on Friday, and taking care of her needs. However, I was beginning to feel the beginnings of sore throat. Oh Lord, don’t tell me? On Saturday morning before I brought my wife’s brother out for a post-surgery appointment, as usual I did a test, and found that I too had been infected with covid. Thankfully, my son Joshua was willing to hurry out and he brought my wife’s brother to the hospital and back to his home. 

My sermon was sent to Ps Alvin Lim and credit to him he preached the message based on what I have written. In emergencies like this we have to be willing to adapt very quickly. Meanwhile, I took the typical medicines: cough mixtures, Panadol, Betadine sore throat spray, and slept and slept and slept. Good good sleep. The chills were kept away by the Panadol. My appetite was erratic. Thus I was thankful for some surprise deliveries of cakes and salmon sashimi donburi from good friends Sunny and Annie, which perked up my appetite. Thankfully when I began to observe my medicine running low, my son Joshua and Pink his wife brought lots of cough mixture, Chinese medicine, and Panadol pills, and some porridge too. 

I was disappointed I could not preach the message I took a long time to prepare and research, but was glad that it was at least delivered albeit through another pastor. Besides sleeping a lot, I also had time to watch Netflix’s “The Recruit” and a Chinese movie, and also analyze Bishop Solomon’s preaching style. More on this in the next blogpost. Perhaps, this compulsory stay at home rest will speed up my writing momentum. Only God knows what other good will come out of this interruption to my plans.

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