covid 19 – Page 2 – BLOGPASTOR

Tag: covid 19

The coronavirus prophecy by Tan Gee Paw

3 March 2020 blogpastor Leave a comment

I received this prophecy about the Wuhan virus (now called covid 19)and judged it a valid and significant word from the Lord.

Tan Gee Paw was a civil servant who took charge of the clean up of the Singapore River. More importantly he is a man of God who followed and served Christ faithfully and humbly with a local Methodist Church, and Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship International. He is known to be a preacher that speaks God’s word without fear nor favour, all the time with humility and the fear of the Lord.

This prophecy from him about the Wuhan virus when it first spread in January 2020 is something we should heed, in my humble opinion.

THE WORD OF THE LORD THAT CAME TO ME ON THURSDAY 6TH FEB 2020: THE WUHAN VIRUS
China and the whole world are gripped by the outbreak of the Wuhan virus with city lock downs in many parts of China and the closing of borders with China by many countries in the late afternoon of 6th February 2020. I went to MacRitchie Reservoir Park to spend a quiet time before dinner. As I sat on the bench in communion with the Lord, I asked a silent question, ‘Lord, what is the meaning of this outbreak?’ I was taken aback by a clear answer from the Lord, saying, ‘I have pressed the pause button on China.’
My immediate reaction was, ‘Lord, if you have pressed the pause button on China, then you have also pressed the pause button on all surrounding countries affiliated with China, including Singapore’.
As the message was so clear, I walked back to my car in deep silence. As I drove home, I turned on the radio (93.8) to hear the 5.30pm news. One of the news items shook me up. The radio announcer read out ‘China has pressed the pause button and postponed its annual National Peoples Congress, the top policy making body.’ The very words ‘pressed the pause button’ was read out! I listened again to the 6 pm news, and the same words were repeated.
MESSAGE TO THE CHURCHES:
The Lord has pressed the pause button not only for China but also the church in Asia. It is time for us to pause, be quiet and spend time with Him. We must pause to listen to Him, for time is fast running on.
TAN GEE PAW

The church in Singapore is like the Ephesus church in the messages to the seven churches in the Revelation. We are known for our deeds, our activity, hard work, and orthodoxy. But the one thing we lack is the most important: ‘You have forsaken the love you had at first’ (Rev 2:4 NIV). This pause has caused many churches to shut down many of its programs, for some churches even its services. It is exactly as the prophecy revealed. The PAUSE button has been pressed. We therefore need to take heed to the response God expects from his church, the Bride of Christ. We are to quiet down before Him in prayer and seek His face in prayer. When we do this we would be a better equipped and empowered people. Time spent with the Lord will be more profitable than a thousand cancelled events and programs driven by mere human effort and wisdom.

God in His wisdom can make good come out of evil. This is God’s mercy. Let us pray.

Covid 19 impact on church and pastor

27 February 2020 blogpastor Leave a comment

The covid 19 virus has had a significant impact on the churches in Singapore. Every church had to make adjustments to its programmes. The Roman Catholic Church suspended its masses shortly after the government activated the DORSCON orange alert. So did charismatic megachurches like FCBC and City Harvest Church, as well as a large Presbyterian church. This is besides the two other churches that the Ministry of Health intervened in, and suspended its services, because of the infection cluster among its members.

However, for most other denominations and independent churches, the essential worship service continued, and other peripheral services, events, and programs were cancelled or postponed.

Various precautionary steps were initiated in most churches: temperature readings, attendance taking, handwave instead of handshakes, more hygienic ways of delivering Holy Communion, shorter services, dismissal and dispersion of members after service, and live streaming of services for members who opt to stay home.

This meant more stress on the pastors as the dilemma of decision making in the midst of DORSCON orange was a tug of war: to continue with services might be misconstrued as a lack of prudence and sensitivity; and to suspend the services may be perceived as a lack of faith in God.

Thankfully I have a pastoral team to work with and to discern the best decision to go with at each point in time. In addition, I have good pastor friends from other churches, and we share notes about the decisions we were making. Finally, the church I serve is a part of two larger network of churches: the Love Singapore movement, and the National Council of Churches of Singapore. We take to heart their advice. These support systems helped to take the stress off me, and in the end our group discernment led to a decision to go ahead with the services, doing live streaming of the services, and encouraging our parents with young children, and the Pioneer generation to stay home, if they wished to.

The staff also had to plan for continuity in case the covid 19 hit the church. So we formed two teams, worked from home, and we tried using Zoom, a software for group meetings via internet video conferencing. The first time we used it, it took us 45 minutes just to get all seven of us on the screen. It was an interesting experience. One thing noticeably different was that I had to consciously concentrate and listen. We also interupted each other less and listened better. The Bible injunction to “Be slow to speak and quick to listen” became a reality!

I worked more from home and this gave me more time for prayer, reflection and reading. A prophetic word from Tan Gee Paw, the man who spearheaded the cleanup of Singapore River, stated that God had pressed the PAUSE button for China and for the church too. PAUSE to halt mindless pursuit of wealth and pleasure, to pray and listen to God. I believe God is squeezing good out of evil, and my prayer is that more of God’s people will spend more time seeking the Lord in prayer than they had before.

There are many reasons to be thankful in the midst of walking in the valley of the shadow of death. There may be fear, anxiety and even panic, but these should reveal something about disordered values in our life, and an invitation from God to take an inward journey that will hopefully free us to be all God wants us to be.

I felt inspired when I saw members still attending worship services with increased earnestness in their singing and praying.

I feel thankful that we have a government that is organized and efficient.

I feel God’s hand is on this nation in the midst of the covid 19. May it bring a greater clarity to all Singaporeans that a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions, power, honour, or achievements. Life can be unpredictably short and we need Jesus Christ to be Lord of our life more than anything else.