Present Determines Eternity

The decisions we make in this present life determines our future destination for all eternity, be it in the presence of the Lord with rewards in heaven, or banishment from His presence and eternal punishment in hell. However, we should not scare people with hell into heaven. I believe many "Christians" or church-goers received salvation merely as a ticket to heaven but have remained at that stage of infancy and have not pursued intimacy with the Lord.

Heaven is not just about the eternal future but how we relate with God and one another here on earth in the present. I would like to view this in a personal way. What matters most here on earth is man's love relationship with God, how truly we love Him, adore Him, worship Him and commune with Him. We will worship Him in eternity with all the saints and heavenly beings. It's not what we do, but who we are in Him. We need to live our lives abiding in Him as Jesus spoke in John 15, He is the Vine and we are the branches. He has called us to bear much fruit as we remain in Him and He in us. He has called us friends, no longer servants who do not know the master's business, but in friendship with Him, He makes known to us the things of God. Christ chose us that we should go and bear fruit, implies that the purpose of Christ's choosing people is not merely that their sins be forgiven and they have eternal life but also that their lives be fruitful and productive in fulfilling God's purposes.

We are God's elect. (Rom 9; Eph 1) God chose us to be His friends. And Jesus said, "This is my command: Love each other." (Jn 15:17) Jesus' Great Commission in Matt 28:19-20 is to go and make disciples of all nations, and in 2 Pet 3:9 tells us that the Lord does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Peter advised us to make every effort to add to our faith goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love to be effective and productive in our knowledge of the Lord. (2 Pet 1:5-7) He said, "Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Pet 1:10-11)

Our assurance of salvation and eternity in heaven should be lived out here in the present while we look forward in great expectation of His second coming.

They Say "Jesus is Coming Soon"

Recently, someone posted the below video in a facebook group I was a part of. The accompanying message was the following:

Hi. This video was made to let people know that the number of people
who will be saved is very few on the last day like the days of Noah.
It can be verified in Matthew24:35~39,Lk17:29 and Lk18:8.
It doesn't mean that any specific church will be saved or only 30 people will be saved.
But,we made this video to the facts just as she had experienced.

On to of that, the post said that a new theory (Korean) was that a solar storm will hit the earth and scorch it of its existence. They had scientific facts from NASA about the sun's strange behaviors recently. Read more here.

The thing is this. This kind of video is not new. Many people have had the privilege of visions and experiences. Many people have had insights and scientific data about what's happening in the earth and atmosphere *flashbacks to scenes from 2013* 

We can probably rationalize it away, but should we rationalize it ALL away?

How reliable are they? They may quote a lot of Scriptures but are they biblical? How should we take or perceive such information? What are they trying to say? What should be our reaction and response? What is God trying to say? 

Hell

Bible described that hell is a place of eternal outer darkness, with fire that never goes out, burning perpetually, a place of pain and torment, a prison. Hell is a place that separates us with God. The torment in hell is forever and ever, it is eternal. It is horrible place as described in the bible, but they are only symbols. The actual hell is much more worst than we could ever imagine. The fire that burn in hell is worst than the material fire on earth. people in hell will experience the pain of lose. The lost of hope, the lost of God, the lost of joy.


God is love, but why he creates hell? Such a horrible place. If someone ask this question how would we answer them? Matthew 25:41 tells us that hell is prepared for devil and his angel, God's intention to create hell is not for human being. He does not take pleasure seeing people suffer an eternity in hell, and that is the reason why he sent Jesus.

We must also know that God will not force anyone to go Heaven. Jesus came to save us so that we will not perish, If a person refuses to repent, refuses to believe that Jesus came and sacrificed himself for the sins of the world, refuses to turn to God, God has no alternative. I agree with Mei Fong in her post about "Talk About Hell" that God is not just a God of Grace, but He is also God of just. Just like every governing authority in the world will impose the maximum penalty for the worst crime. God has his standard too.

One of the worst thing a person can do is to reject God, reject his grace, his love, and his plan of salvation.  Justice demands that those who disregard and reject God's loving offer of pardon will pay the penalty for their own sins forever in hell.

Will the horrible hell motivate us to preach the gospel? I believe now is the time to be concerned but not when one gets into hell. Once people is in hell, he will learn too late that God really means what He said, without Christ, he will ended up in hell. Let us make sure that we tried our best to stop people from going to hell.

 

 

Talk About Hell

We all know that heaven is real and much emphasis have been given about this place called "heaven" in our witnessing. People love to hear good news and heaven is definitely a great news!

But I was thinking to myself whether we have been focusing too much on one side of the story but neglect in informing people about the reality of hell as well? The free entry to heaven through Jesus Christ is a message of God's grace. That is just one side of the story. How about the other part of the story about the punishment of our sins? God is a God of grace but also a God of justice. Some would argue about the tension between the love of God, a cardinal characteristic of God's nature, and His judgment. But personally, it is no tension at all. How can someone fully know the extend of God's love and grace without knowing the punishment of his own wickedness? Telling people about hell is not a message of condemnation but it is a warning. It is definitely a place where we do not even want our worst enemy to end up in!

The Kingdom of God

I've recently found a liking for this subject - Ever since I learnt about it in Parables class and Pastoral Epistle class. I realised that the perspective of the Kingdom of God makes a difference in how we live our lives today. 

If we the kingdom of God were just a future place and not here today, we would live like it didn't matter and God's reign isn't in our world today. We would be careless with our lives and find ways to escape our miserable situations because it was our prison and nothing spiritual. 

But if we understand the kingdom of God has God's reign and rule over the sphere of our influence, we would live our lives purposefully, intentionally and learn to extend God's love and grace to our 'captors' in our prison of misery because God still reigns there. And He reigns as far as we would allow Him in our lives. 

The Kingdom of God is now and not yet. It has begun although it is not seen. It is felt although it cannot be touched. But the kingdom grows because of you and me who allow God's reign and rule over areas of our lives when we submit to Him. When we love the unlovable, forgive and hold nothing against those who wrong us, extend grace even if they didn't deserve it,  feed the poor and provide shelter for the homeless, respect our bosses, mentor a young delinquent. When we allow God to take over our lives, He takes control and reigns over it. His kingdom extends in us and through us. And when we act in faith, we extend his kingdom to those spheres of our influence and introduces it into the lives of those we contact or touch. I don't know about you, but I'm getting very excited about it. 

And yes, it is also 'not yet'. It has not yet come to completion yet and it is not yet fully revealed. But one day it will - in all its glory and in its fullness. Yes, that day will come. And it will be an awesome time.

Ecumenical Movement - Unite or Not Unite?

Over the years, I've been contemplating about Jesus' prayer for unity, that we may be one, in John 17:20-23, and all the so-called divisions in the church with so many denominations, and much differences, and disagreements, in comparison to the image of the church as the bride of Christ. If the church is not united as one, but each institution claims to be the bride of Christ in their own right of ways, when Christ returns for His Bride, He is only coming back for One Bride, not so many brides! Another image is the church as the body of Christ. Well, Christ is the Head of the church and that's for only One body of course, definitely not one head with many bodies.

We know the very heart of God is the unity of His Church that we will all be one. Paul has said it very clearly in Ephesians 4 that the believers 'make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace' (v. 3) and the fundamentals of unity involves i..one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and the Father of all. The church needs to have unity of Spirit. Paul urges the church to be 'one in spirit and purpose' (Phil 2:2).

What then would bring unity? Is it ideological acceptance? Implementation on a  practical level? Is it organizational alliance of a council? Is it the Ecumenical Movement?

Ecumenical Movement came from the Greek word 'oikoumene' meaning 'this inhabited world'. Though ecumenism began as early as 1517, but the modern ecumenical movement began in 1910 after the revivals that swept Europe and North America, from the outgrowth of the missionary movement among denominations for world evangelism. In 1948, the World Council of Churches assembled in Amsterdam, with the primary concern on the relationship of churches to one another. There are presently the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the National Council of Churches (NCC), aiming to bring churches of all denominations towards 'one world one church'.

The Ecumenical Movement is a huge controversial in the Christian world, especially the disagreements from the Evangelicals. The issues concerned certain basic truths, beliefs and doctrines. They question the doctrinal standards, that the ecumenical movement has often settled for the lowest common denominator. Besides theological issues, the evangelicals also disagree with the church issue, what structure of church government, form and function of the ministry be? Questions concerning the sacraments also causes severe tensions because that was what the reformists fought for in the 16th century. One teleological issue is the ultimate goal of this movement, is it an organic merger of all denominations into one superchurch?

We should always remember what Erickson advices, "Where Christians do disagree, whether as individuals, churches, or denominations, it is essential that they do so in a spirit of love, seeking to correct others and persuade them of the truth, rather than refute them or expose them to ridicule. Truth will ever be linked to love."

So, will the Ecumenical Movement unite the church in the world?

 

 

Baptism - The Church Ordinance

Dictionary explains ordinances as an authoritative rule or law; a decree or command.  It means that it is a command to obey. They are also visual aids to help us to understand better and appreciate what Jesus has accomplished for us by sacrificing himself on the cross. New Testament makes it very clear that Baptism is one of the practices of the early church. Church practices this ordinance because Jesus commands us to do so.

In Matthew 28:19, Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Not only he commanded us to do so, Jesus himself set an example for us that he himself was baptized by John before started his ministry. 

 

But what does baptism symbolize, why is it so important?

I was baptized on Christmas day in year 2000.  Although it was really long time ago, but I must say it was a wonderful experience for me because it was a special moment in my walk with Jesus Christ. I knew that I was confessing publicly of my faith in Jesus as my personal savior. I remember coming out of the water and feeling such joy in my heart. By going down in the water, it symbolizes that my old man is dead to sin and buried by faith in Christ. By being raised up out of the water, I understand that it symbolizes my new man is raised by the Spirit and made alive by faith in Christ.  

Although baptism very important, but is it necessary for salvation? Or is it sufficient for salvation? 

Bible makes it clear that as Christian we should be baptized, but it is not something we do in order to be saved, but it is something we do BECAUSE we are saved. Can we earn salvation? No, we can’t. We are not saved by ritual or works but “by grace through faith” (Eph. 2:8-9). If baptism is necessary for salvation, then we are saying that the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross is not enough and we need to add something that we do in order to make the salvation complete. 

If it is not necessary for salvation, then why would we be baptized? I think I am doing it because it is a testimony that I have trusted in Christ as savior and it is my new identity in Christ by submitting his command to be baptized.

This Is Church.

Had an interesting discussion in class today regarding the definition of a church.

What is a church? 

What is a true church? 

Simple question but it is a question that each of us have to really think through. 

Then I came across a simple video of what a church really is. Take a look!

I am in agreement.

"The church is the hands of feet of Jesus Christ. Feet shouldn't sit still. Hands shouldn't be idle. Feet go. Hands do. This is the church."

A Such Thing As The Best...

According to Millard J. Erickson, there are several forms of church government that have appeared as the church developed. This four most basic forms are episcopal, presbyterian, congregational and a form of nongovernment. Churches around the globe have been probably debating which is the best form of church government. No doubt the Bible does talk about church leadership but there is no prescriptive exposition of what government of the church is to be like comparable to. The churches are not commanded to adopt a particular form of church order. The closest to it probably is when Paul mentioned the basic qualifications for offices that already existed (1 Timothy 3:1-13; Titus 1:5-9). If it is so, how then are we to decide on which form we are to follow?

The issue here is not about which form of church government is greater than the other. But rather, which church government is suitable for the individual churches. Each church has a different set of culture, people, vision and mission. With this reason, it is hard to make it as a rule that there is only one way to run the church. As long as the principals of governing the church is in synced with the Word of God, methods can be changed. After all, systems and methods are man-made. So who are we to judge and to compare?

Changing the way we do church

Through the ages, church form and model has changed many times, with the newer generations changing the way older generations do church. You can call it a revolt or a reform but change is imminent. Today we stand at the threshold of yet another change – the cries of a newer generation.

Is the emerging church a reaction of a previous generation that is falling out of relevancy? Or is it a necessity to reach a changing generation? There are some who think the emerging church as overboard and over-compromising, but so were we for the previous generation. There are some who think the emerging church as the only way to reach the postmodern generation, but have we thoroughly thought through the cost? Whatever our comments may be, it is crucial for us to consider once again the purpose of the church.

The church was instituted for a purpose. Erickson clearly defines its purpose to have its members worship God, edify the body, and evangelize the lost. If any form of the church loses its function in any of these areas, it ceases to be what we call the church. Scot McKnight offers a warning to the emerging church movement whom he believes to be losing its evangelistic zeal by compromising its proclamation of the exclusive Good News. That is a warning for the rest of us, as well, who wants to change the way we do church. I echo the age old chant, “the method may change but the message is still the same”. The form of church may change, but the function should not.

The Church

The church began in the times of the apostles soon after Jesus' ascension and the day of Pentecost, as recorded in the Book of Acts. To understand the original nature of the church which the Lord builds, we need to go back to the first community of faith, the first group of believers who were the apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ. Jesus commissioned his disciples in Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Here, the purpose of the church is so plain and clear: To be His witness, meaning to bear the gospel truth, the salvation message to near and far, till the ends of the earth. The Holy Spirit came upon the 120 believers, granting each one divine empowerment, spiritual giftings, extraordinary boldness and enablement to witness. Everyone began to speak in other tongues declaring the wonders of God (2:11), Peter began to preach the gospel with great boldness, many heard the message of salvation, and 3000 were added to their number that day (2:14-41).

The original nature of the church and her core values are clearly stated in Acts 2:42-47, being filled with the Spirit of God, the believers devoted themselves to the Word of God, to fellowship, to break bread, and to prayer. There were many signs and wonders done by the apostles. All believers shared their material possessions and goods to those in need, worshipping and praising God. And the Lord added new believers to their number daily.

Over the centuries, the nature of the church had developed and evolved as Christianity spreads throughout the globe. There are great structures or buildings, many denominations based on the differences of doctrines, there are modifications in almost every aspect, many methodology, legalism, rituals, traditions, unique cultures in the fellowships of believers. Throughout church history, there were great shifts in the dynamics of the church and radically changed, politically, economically, and socially.

No matter how much the church has developed and evolved over the centuries, narrowing it down just to our very own local church, it is important to go back to the original nature of God's intent for His church to be the bearer of truth, to spread the gospel and be His witnesses, that is the first and foremost. Let us not depart from the very purpose of the divine call, commission and purpose of the existence of church. It is meant to be the extension arm of God to continue to the work and ministry of Jesus Christ, to bring salvation, hope, love, redemption, healing and restoration.