Exclusives : SABAH: Thousands Pack Churches. Many languages, many cultures - one gospel
Posted by David Virtue on 2005/4/17 9:00:00 (68 reads)
SABAH: THOUSANDS PACK CHURCHES. MANY LANGUAGES, MANY CULTURES - ONE GOSPELBy David W. VirtueTAWAU, SABAH (4/17/2005)--I am woken by the sad wail of an imam at a nearby mosque. I look at my watch. It is 4.45am on a hot, humid Saturday, and the first of five calls to prayer that I will hear that day, though mercifully I will be out of town visiting Anglican parishes in the area when some of the calls are sounded.A tall single spire with speakers at the top of it is clearly visible for miles around and the gold shaped crescent at the top of a green-colored dome has a loud speaker placed in it that increases the volume all over the city, so I am told by a Christian worker at St. Patrick's Anglican Church, whose compound I am staying in. The church and the Mosque are within a stone's throw of each other.Archdeacon Albert Vun, Tawau's leading Anglican cleric and one of four possible successors to Archbishop Yong Ping Chung when he retires, has placed me in a flat (apartment) in St. Patrick's compound. It is on the second floor and commands a view of the nearby city. He himself is in Thailand working on establishing an Anglican presence there.The Christians here have grown used to the sounds from the Mosque. They are undeterred. On Sunday morning when I awake the Mosque and the wail is silent. It is the Christians turn.From my second floor flat I can hear songs of praise fill the morning air as more than a thousand young Chinese men and women lift their voices in praise and prayer at the House of Prayer for All Nations - a huge auditorium like structure that is separate from the Church and can seat as many as 2,500 for special conferences. The compound which stretches over several acres is rich in palms, trees and flowers, the buildings are kept in immaculate condition.There will be six services today conducted in Hakka, a Chinese dialect, later a bilingual service in St. Patrick's church, an English service, a Bahasa Malay service, a language which is also used in neighboring Indonesia, a Mandarin service and a Bahasa Malay stand alone service. I will attend them all.The Hakka service is underway as I step into the cavernous auditorium. The place is packed with some 1,500 souls. The Hakka dialect is close to Mandarin so I am told and the service is a joyful, alive occasion to both observe and celebrate. As I pass into the auditorium I am escorted like some sort of celebrity up to the front where I shake hands with two senior priests and the young Rev. David Wong who is multi-lingual, Western trained and clearly in charge. The 1,500 people are being led by a woman pastor in joyful praise with a 20-piece band in attendance. (Note. Women pastors are not ordained to the priesthood. They perform all functions within the church except Eucharistically.)A choir of 50 is on stage as the woman leads worship and some 20 demurely dressed dancers in long white dresses with red sashes sway and move to the rhythms of the music. It is colorful and alive. The people sing and spontaneous fervent prayer breaks out across the large congregation which by now has reached overflow proportions. This goes on for at least an hour before the preaching begins. We stand the whole time. We only sit for the preaching.The text is Gen 3:1-24 followed by Heb.11: 5-6 and it is about faith built on revelation and understanding revelation rightly. Faith we are told is built on intimacy and the life of Enoch is evoked. We are told to walk regularly (daily) with God. The preaching is straight biblical, strong and powerful. No words are nuanced or minced. We are called to repent, have faith, act, live out our faith and if God calls you to do something for Him, do it without question and without hesitation, even it means laying down one's life.When it is over I am introduced and asked to say a few words. I thank them for their hospitality, explain that I am here in SE Asia at the request of their archbishop, explain briefly what is going on globally and share briefly the crisis in the Episcopal Church. They are shocked about the whole homosexual piece. It is totally off their radar screen. I don't dwell on it, but they are smart and get the picture very quickly. I talk about my website and they are all smiles. Most of them are Internet savvy. I know I will have a few thousand more readers before the day is out.There is no communion today. This is a Morning Prayer service. The place is packed.I attend the bilingual service at St. Patrick's where another 500 show up and then it is back to the House of Prayer auditorium where more than 1,500 Bahasa Malays are hearing the same service and sermon in their language. They are mostly from Indonesian descent.Nearly 4,000 Asian Christians including upwards of 500 children passed through the compound of St. Patrick's today and they heard an uncompromising message of salvation.When I asked what the secret of their church growth was they told me that they had initiated the "cell group" concept in 1992 from Singapore and the Faith Community Baptist Church and the Rev. Lawrence Kong. "We moved from program-based ministries and integrated them into cell groups. Today we have nearly 250. All the church's ministries center on cell groups; adult, youth, children and senior citizen's," said Philip Lo, the church's Missions Director. "The Cell church concept is very much a lay ministry while the senior pastor and other pastors concentrate on teaching, training and the "equipping of the saints". As a result we have seen a great increase in the number of highly trained, capable lay leaders come up in the church. Evangelism, nurture, visitation and pastoral care are mobilized through the cell groups, with the cell leaders being the actual pastors of the groups."Here leaders are raised up to lead a dozen or so persons. Sunday worship services are celebration gatherings of the whole church, with the main teaching carried out in the preaching services. Other ministries include the Student Touch Center, visitation, counseling, healing Old Folks' ministries, St. Patrick's Playschool and Daycare center, Taman Semarak Touch Center and the resource Center.Over the last three years, numerous new congregations have been planted, in both Bahasa Malay and Chinese. I was privileged to be taken into the interior and visit two of the congregations; St. Augustine at Merotai and Good Tidings Church at Taman Semarak. The church's mission drive is awesome. They have planted churches in Kuala Lumpur, Indonesia, and working on a mission to Thailand, while not neglecting their Jerusalem.The previous day I was driven out of Kota Kinabalu to Keningau by the Rev. James Lee to his parish in the interior in a somewhat harrowing 3-hour drive over a winding mountain arriving in time for a Bible study group in a private home, conducted by a lady who had been a Christian leader for more than 21 years. A local taxi took me back to Kota Kinabalu the next day and a short flight took me to the eastern shore of Malaysia and the city of Tawau.The evangelistic zeal of the largely Chinese driven church cannot be underestimated. There is real spiritual power here. Spiritual warfare is taken seriously as many Indonesians and Chinese come from demonic backgrounds where spiritual bondage has held these people in sway for centuries. They are riddled with family gods and a history of spiritual practices that needs to be brought to the light and exorcized. They believe the gospel has enormous power to change peoples' lives and to free them from spiritual darkness. I saw it in their faces, many of whom had been liberated from years of spiritual despair.The commitment of the church's members is staggering in its proportions. Every member is committed to tithing ten percent of their pre tax income; commit to praying for one hour a day; commit to reading through the Bible in a year, commit to Sunday worship, and attend a cell group weekly.Education plays a big part in the life of the Christian community here. St. Patrick's Church has a kindergarten, primary school, secondary school, a play school, a nursery and a day care. They have also started a private Christian school as their former schools were taken over by the Government.Later some of the senior Chinese leaders take me out to lunch. They want to know more about why the Western Episcopal/Anglican Church has tossed in the towel over the gospel. They find it incomprehensible and wonder what sort of gospel we do have. I try to explain, but "inclusion" is lost on them. "We don't include sin, murmured one, we expel it." Now they ask me why anyone would want to stay in The Episcopal Church if it is has no Good News to offer people. I try to explain but I run out of steam trying to defend an institution where one of its bishops this past week inhibited and deposed six godly priests in the Diocese of Connecticut. For the first time I find myself at a loss for words.I do tell them that the Nigerian Primate, Peter Akinola is sending priests and a possible bishop to the U.S. to rescue Nigerian Anglicans who cannot worship in a morally and spiritually bankrupt Episcopal Church, and that perhaps the Anglican Church in Southeast Asia ought to think about doing the same. They smile their inscrutable smiles and nod their heads. I have hit a home run.END
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Friday, April 15, 2005
Anglican Missionary News from South East Asia, as provided by David Virtue.
SIGNS AND WONDERS IN INDONESIABy David W. VirtueON THE INDONESIAN BORDER. Pastor Choo, (not her real name) has seen miraculous occurrences take place before her very eyes.On the Island of Tarakan off the coast of Indonesia a woman gives birth and suddenly is crippled, her hands and feet cease to function, she becomes mentally disturbed and she can no longer speak. Over the next two months she sells off all her jewelry to pay doctors, hospitals, numerous witch doctors, invoking family gods looking for a cure. She is a Buddhist. Nothing happens. She can no longer take care of the baby. The doctors finally say they cannot help her. She and her family lose hope. She lives in a Kampong (village) some distance from Tarakan. Then she hears about some Anglican missionaries who have come from Malaysia that are meeting in a house. Perhaps they can help her. She is brought to the house where members of the church begin to pray over her. After prayer and counseling over many days she begins to improve. On the 5th day she is taught to call on the name of Jesus. She is still not a believer, but she does what she is told. Within hours she is completely healed. She confesses Christ. Her baby is restored to her.A man in the village cannot sleep; the pain in his shoulders will not go away. He goes to Singapore to see the best doctors, but the pain continues. He returns to Tarakan and contemplates suicide. He hears about some missionaries from Malaysia in his Kampong. Pastor Choo: "We went to sing carols in his house. He invites us in. He tells us about the terrible pains he is having; we lay hands on him and pray for him. He is suddenly healed and confesses Christ."These stories could be multiplied over and over.For Pastor Choo a diminutive Chinese lady with a brilliant, radiant smile, this is normal. It is First Century Christianity in operation. She is a missionary who heeded the call from the Anglican Church in Sabah to reach out beyond the borders of Malaysia to the Chinese community dotted throughout Indonesia and its myriad islands, in the most densely populated Islamic nation on earth."I prayed. I asked God if it was me He wanted to serve Him. I was living in Tawau, Sabah serving the Lord in the Chinese community there. It was safe and comfortable, but the call went out from our Archdeacon Albert Vun to reach out beyond our borders. I felt God was saying to me go.""Tarakan is an island in Indonesia, you can get there from Tawau in Malaysia by ferry in three hours, but it is a different world," she told VirtueOnline.Though not ordained she is recognized as a pastor by the Anglican Diocese of Sabah. The Anglican Church (CMS) is recognized by the Indonesian government and has a 100-year history mostly for ex-pats but it has not been doing evangelism. The church is kept artificially alive but there is no gospel being preached, said Pastor Choo."I was in charge of the Chinese zone in Tawau, but we were given a vision in the year 2,000 to reach out to Indonesia. A vision was born. When the archdeacon issued the challenge I prayed and after getting peace I decided to go."Pastor Choo made two missionary trips to spy out the land and to see if there was a specific place God was calling them too."On a secondary missionary trip a businessman joined us and we met a Taiwanese missionary in Tarakan who had been working there for 10 years and he confirmed that a Chinese speaking church was possible and necessary in Tarakan.""We immediately scouted out for a building to establish a house church. God led us to a brand new house that was big enough to worship and praise Him in and as a place for us to live.""We needed another miracle. We needed money. Many times I pray for money. We needed 20,000 Ringgit (Malaysian dollars) about $5,000 (US) but we did not have it. A businessman who exports prawns to the US and Japan came through with the money after learning that his containers were being rejected and the government wanted to destroy them all. He asked that we pray that the containers not be destroyed but returned to him. He said he would give us a donation if the containers were returned in one piece. We all prayed they would be returned to him. They were. He then gave us the 20,000 Ringgit for one year's rental.""I returned to Tawau with the good news that we had made a start. I then lead a team of four back to Tarakan in August 2000. One of the men on the team was a businessman and he paid the rent for two more years. All the signs were telling us that God wanted us to start the work immediately."We had a vision and only one friend on Tarakan, now we had to find a way to introduce ourselves to the Chinese people, said Pastor Choo."In the Chinese calendar it was Moon Cake, but these were not available in Tarakan so we brought 200 boxes of Moon Cake to Tarakan to the Chinese speaking people and we went from house to house and give them the moon cake and invited them to our first Sunday service. On August 15, 2000 we held our first service and two elderly Chinese men in their 70s came. They were not Christians. On the first Sunday they received Jesus."Pastor Choo said they kept on doing evangelism, going from house to house on the island of Tarakan with its population of 150,000. "We knew that about 10 percent were Chinese. Slowly we made new converts. We had a team of four and after several months of evangelism two women stayed and two left.""We concentrated on evangelism using ALPHA and nurturing every new believer. Prayer was our priority. When people got converted, and if they could read, we gave them a copy of the whole bible in the Indonesian language."From two men at the first service the church started to grow. "By the end of 2004 we had a weekly attendance of 200." They have called their house church, The Church of Christ, Cornerstone. The first Anglican Church in Eastern Indonesia was open for business."We have had Pentecost experiences here. Sometimes the Holy Spirit fills the whole person and people are set free from spiritual bondages and receive the gift of speaking in tongues. God is using ordinary people to fulfill his purposes," she said.Choo said that because of the new immigration laws in Malaysia some of the Indonesian workers who live in Sabah have been compelled to return to Indonesia when their visas run out. Many have become Christians in Sabah and so they bring the gospel back with them. That is helping the Church to grow in Indonesia, she said.God has continued to give her a vision for how to move forward. "We start small cell groups; we mobilize the church with intense Bible studies. We have started a school so we can get a visa for a year. We can come in as English teachers."But Choo attributes the greatest growth of the church to prayer. "We encourage people to pray, pray, pray, to build up their lives with prayer and devotion to God. We emphasize speaking and teaching the truth without compromise."Chinese culture, she says, is steeped in traditional bondage. "We are not allowed to conduct funeral services. We have learned that as we honor God, God honors us. We will never compromise with syncretism. It is Jesus or nothing."Choo has developed a group of Chinese businessman, 40-plus in ages who want to move aggressively to spread the gospel throughout Indonesia. "The Chinese people do not convert easily to Christ." She describes how her treasurer first accepted the Moon Cake but would not accept Jesus. "We kept on praying for him. He read through the Bible six times in less than four years. He finally got converted," she said with a smile. "We prayed and God answered our prayers in His timing."Pastor Choo said Cornerstone will be a sending church. "There is no full time Chinese pastor at the present time. The first Chinese vicar passed away. We hope to have a full time Chinese pastor by 2006."Other churches were not keen to do evangelism, but after we started our church it awakened other churches in Tarakan, said Choo."We took a leap of faith, other churches looked the other way at the way we worshipped, but then they began to imitate us even in simple things like the ethical way we did our banking. Some of the bank managers were impressed and came to our church. We had strict accountability.""Our purpose now is to contribute to the education of young people and we have started an English play school. We are also planning to have youth workers and send them to Bible school. My heart's desire it to produce our first pastor. The harvest is ready from the crops. God is raising up leaders and we have two youth workers and we will recruit another one in June to send to Bible school."Choo says the most important thing is to get a godly vision then you know your direction and you can work out your vision. "You always need a vision, and we have one for the Chinese people of Indonesia."We are sending out missionary teams two by two. We are beginning to conduct revival meetings in homes, not churches. In one day we saw three receive Jesus and five reaffirm their faith. We see miracles taking place and people are delivered from evil spirits and spiritual bondage."For myself I am very thankful to God for my four years in Tarakan. I have gained so much experience that I would never have gained if I had not stepped out in faith."Choo is still based in Tarakan where she can only stay for 30 days and then must return to Tawau. "It is a privilege to enter the mission field. Tarakan is a mission field. I have never seen so many miracles happen in the last five years. God is doing a new thing; people are being converted and filled with the Holy Spirit. We are hoping for revival and a great harvest of souls for Indonesia."FOOTNOTE: Owing to the delicate political situation in Indonesia Pastor Choo must remain anonymous.END
Thursday, April 14, 2005
What do Christians Believe
What do Christians Believe?
Summary:
God created humanity in his image to have a relationship with him, giving humanity free will to choose whether or not to obey him. Humanity rebelled, incurring physical mortality and spiritual separation from God. Sinful humanity is incapable of restoring this relationship. Only someone who was both God and sinless man could bridge the gap between God and humanity. God, who is holy and just, cannot tolerate evil. Being also loving and merciful, he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to be born as a human baby, and to die on the cross as our substitute. Taking on the punishment we deserve, he died and rose again, conquering both sin and death. By repentance and faith in him we can be reconciled to God and receive his Spirit to live within us, enabling us to grow more like Christ. At the end of human history Christ will return to judge the living and the dead. Those who have accepted him will live with him for eternity; those who reject him will be separated from God forever. (This is also summarized in the creeds in the Appendix.)
The above summary is all one really needs to know in order to respond to the good news about Jesus. What follows is a more detailed description of the Christian faith.
God
There is one God, without beginning or end, who exists as three Persons in one Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each equally divine and eternal, sharing one substance (or essence) and purpose, but distinct in role. This concept of God as Three-in-One and One-in-Three is known as the Trinity, a word which is not present in the Bible but can be demonstrated from Scripture. There are not three gods, nor one god with three different modes, but one God in three Persons.
God is present everywhere, knows everything, and is all-powerful. He is holy, just, merciful and loving. He is sovereign; nothing occurs without his permission and foreknowledge.
(a) God the Father. He is the initiator in Creation and Redemption but did not act without the Spirit and the Son. It is from the Father that everything originates. Most (but not all) Christian prayer is directed to the Father, through the Son (which is why we say, “In Jesus’ name” or “Through Christ our Lord” before saying “Amen” at the end of our prayers), by the Spirit who enables us to pray.
(b) God the Son is related (is “generated” or “begotten”) to the Father eternally. He is uncreated; there is no time when he did not exist. He is the “Word” (“logos” or reason) of the Father, through whom the Father spoke the universe into being. At a moment in time, in obedience to the Father and by the action of the Holy Spirit, the Son became human by being conceived by Mary, a Jewish virgin engaged to Joseph. Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Palestine, and lived as a human, taught about the kingdom of God, performed miracles as signs of the kingdom, and predicted his own death as a sacrifice for sin. He was condemned to death by the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, at the instigation of the religious authorities, and was crucified, died, and was buried in a borrowed grave. On the third day he rose bodily from the dead, appeared on numerous occasions to his followers and then after forty days ascended into heaven where he now intercedes for us. Before he died he commanded his followers to remember his death as a new covenant in bread and wine (known as Communion or the Lord’s Supper). Before he ascended he commanded his followers to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all he had taught. At the end of history he will return visibly and bodily to judge all humanity. Jesus is both fully human and fully divine. He has two natures (human and divine) but one will in one Person.
(c) God the Holy Spirit is the third Person. He proceeds eternally from the Father and is sent temporally (in time) at the Son’s request. He is the giver and sustainer of life, was present at Creation, spoke through the Hebrew prophets, inspired the Hebrew and Christian scriptures and caused Mary to conceive Jesus while she remained a virgin. At Jesus’ baptism the Spirit empowered him for his earthly ministry. The Father raised Jesus from the dead by the power of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit was sent to the early church at Pentecost (50 days after the Christ’s resurrection). The Holy Spirit exalts Jesus as Lord, convicts us of sin and God’s righteousness and the need to be reconciled to God. When one becomes a Christian one receives the Holy Spirit who assures us that God is our Father. He empowers believers, grants them gifts for the service of others, and gradually transforms our characters as we learn to yield to him.
The Material Universe
God created the material universe out of nothing and sustains it. It is therefore good and reflects his glory as a masterpiece reflects the skill and character of the artist. Without him the universe would cease to exist. God is present within the material universe (imminent) but distinct from it (transcendent). God is neither part of Nature, nor Nature part of God, although God is present everywhere in it, and we live and move and exist in God. Matter is neither despised as evil nor worshipped as divine. In the incarnation of Christ, God took on material form as a human. Christ rose bodily from the grave and ascended with his resurrected body to the right hand of the Father. When Christ returns the faithful dead will be raised. Those who believed in him will have resurrected bodies like his; those alive at his return will have their bodies transformed like his. Eternity will not be a bodiless existence. After the judgment at the end of history there will be a new heaven and a new earth. The whole of creation awaits Christ’s return. Christ has provided material sacraments as means of grace to be appropriated by faith, namely water in baptism, wine and bread in the Lord’s Supper. Because God is distinct from created matter Christians may not worship images, but, because the Son took on a physical body, the incarnate Son may be depicted in art.
The Spiritual Realm
God created spiritual beings, called angels, to serve him. Angels are not deities, nor are they mortal. They are creatures of spirit who can, on occasion, appear visibly to humans. At various times God has sent his angels to bring messages to humans, or has occasionally permitted people to catch a glimpse of the spiritual realm.
Lucifer, one of the greatest of the angels, coveted equality with God and rebelled against him, being cast out of God’s presence along with one third of the angels, now called demons. Lucifer is now called the devil, Beelzebub, Satan, the Accuser, the Prince of the Power of the Air and the god of this world. The struggle between good and evil experienced by humans is paralleled in the spiritual realm. There are no neutral spirits; all angels either serve God or the Evil one. Satan tempted our first parents to sin and continues to tempt us. God has granted us the means to resist temptation and the example of Jesus’ resistance to temptation. Satan was defeated at the cross. What we now experience as spiritual warfare is just the “mopping-up operations” before Satan’s final downfall after Christ’s return. Furthermore, God is sovereign; the battle is not an equal one or one in which the final outcome is in doubt. Satan, though powerful and evil is on a long leash and can do nothing more than God permits.
C.S. Lewis, in his book “Screwtape Letters” warns of two opposite and equally dangerous approaches to the spiritual realm: one is to be blissfully unaware of it and therefore have no discernment about the existence of evil, the other is to be unhealthily preoccupied with it. Christians are not to dabble in the occult, or to participate in inter-faith worship which involves the invocation of gods or spirits other than the God who has revealed himself to us as recorded in the Bible.
Man
God created man in his own image, having personhood and the capacity to reason, love and communicate. Originally innocent, man rebelled against God, having been warned of the consequence, and became subject to physical mortality and spiritual alienation from God. The image of God within was thus tarnished but not eliminated. All humans subsequently inherit a predilection for evil, and although capable of choosing to commit specific sins or not, are incapable of restoring the relationship with God thus lost, without his intervention. Every human being, from the moment of conception, is infinitely precious to the God who created us. Every human (other than Christ), no matter how good, is in the same predicament.
Revelation
God has revealed himself in nature and in the history of Israel and her prophets. The Scriptures reveal to us the nature of God, his moral standards, his love, and his call to repentance. He has definitively revealed himself in the person of his Son, Jesus who in turn entrusted the gospel to his apostles and promised that the Holy Spirit would guide the church into all truth.
Sin and Salvation
Sins (plural) are individual acts of commission or omission which are contrary to the will of God. Sin (singular) is a state of existence in which we find ourselves, now that we are alienated from God through the rebellion of the first representative humans whom the Bible calls Adam and Eve. Salvation is the process of restoration of physical, spiritual and mental wholeness made possible by Christ. It begins when we turn to Christ but is not finished in this life. Salvation has past, present and future components. Past: in that Christ has completed through his one unrepeatable sacrifice all that is required to deal with the power and penalty of sin. Present: in that we have to receive the gift of salvation now and cooperate with the Holy Spirit as he works in our lives. Future: in that the work of transforming us into Christ’s likeness, or of becoming partakers of his nature, will not be completed until we reach heaven.
By way of analogy: suppose that a man chooses to jump into an enormous pit of sinking sand. Blinded by dirt in his eyes and deafened by mud in his ears, weakened by his efforts to save himself, he is unable to reach solid ground. His struggling only causes him to sink deeper. God’s arm is long enough to reach out and pull him to solid ground. All the mired man has to do to be saved is grasp the hand offered to him. All too often he strikes out and pushes away the proffered assistance. God is the one who wipes away the mud and dirt, gives the strength to grasp his hand and the faith to trust him to save us. There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation; it is a gift to be received. God is not willing that anyone should perish. He calls everyone to repent and turn to him but he does not force us to respond.
A proper appreciation of the sovereign grace of God leads us to conclude that if anyone is saved it is solely through God’s initiative. If anyone perishes it is by that person’s own responsibility in not receiving the salvation offered.
When we repent of our sin, believe in Christ and put our faith in him, we become God’s children by adoption and new birth, receive his Holy Spirit, are washed by the water of baptism and experience his forgiveness and the power to live a life pleasing to God.
The Church
All faithful Christians who have come to faith in Christ as expressed in Christian baptism are members of the body of Christ, the church. Wherever two or three people gather together in Christ’s name, Christ is with them by his Spirit. Wherever Christ is, there is the church. The church is not a building, an organization or an institution. The church consists of people. One becomes part of the church by becoming a Christian. A local congregation, no matter how small or large, is not “part” of the church; it is the church, just as a drop of water and an ocean are both H2O. Its fullest expression is seen when Christians gather to hear and study God’s Word, and to receive the Sacraments. The early church used the term “church” in two senses only: (a) the local gathering of believers in a given location and (b) all Christians throughout the world (including those who have died) who are connected to each other by a shared trust in Christ. One (of several) metaphors for the church is the family of God. In this new extended family we receive encouragement, support, instruction and accountability. The support helps us to grow and persevere.
Conclusion
The above outline of the Christian faith is intended to represent the core doctrines shared by all the major historic denominations - Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant. Individual denominations would emphasis some or other of these points to a greater or lesser degree or add to them. I have attempted to avoid denominational buzz-words, points of major disagreement and the discussion of the more esoteric aspects of some issues such as eschatology or the best mode, timing or method of baptism or whether there are more than two sacraments. A such, this brief article is a description of what is sometimes called “the Great Tradition”, “ecumenical orthodoxy” or “Mere Christianity” and trust that it will be accepted in that spirit. No attempt has been made to accommodate “Progressive” Christianity which will be discussed in a separate article.
Appendix
The Apostles Creed (a Western statement of faith used at baptisms)
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried;he descended to the dead.On the third day he rose again;he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father,and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,the resurrection of the body,and the life everlasting. Amen.
Ecumenical Version of the Nicene Creed:
We believe in one God,the Father, the Almighty,maker of heaven and earth,of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,the only Son of God,eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light,true God from true God,begotten, not made,of one Being with the Father;through him all things were made.For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven,was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Maryand was made man.For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;he suffered death and was buried.On the third day he rose againin accordance with the Scriptures;he ascended into heavenand is seated at the right hand of the Father.He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,the Lord, the giver of life,who proceeds from the Father,who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.We look for the resurrection of the dead,and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Summary:
God created humanity in his image to have a relationship with him, giving humanity free will to choose whether or not to obey him. Humanity rebelled, incurring physical mortality and spiritual separation from God. Sinful humanity is incapable of restoring this relationship. Only someone who was both God and sinless man could bridge the gap between God and humanity. God, who is holy and just, cannot tolerate evil. Being also loving and merciful, he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to be born as a human baby, and to die on the cross as our substitute. Taking on the punishment we deserve, he died and rose again, conquering both sin and death. By repentance and faith in him we can be reconciled to God and receive his Spirit to live within us, enabling us to grow more like Christ. At the end of human history Christ will return to judge the living and the dead. Those who have accepted him will live with him for eternity; those who reject him will be separated from God forever. (This is also summarized in the creeds in the Appendix.)
The above summary is all one really needs to know in order to respond to the good news about Jesus. What follows is a more detailed description of the Christian faith.
God
There is one God, without beginning or end, who exists as three Persons in one Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each equally divine and eternal, sharing one substance (or essence) and purpose, but distinct in role. This concept of God as Three-in-One and One-in-Three is known as the Trinity, a word which is not present in the Bible but can be demonstrated from Scripture. There are not three gods, nor one god with three different modes, but one God in three Persons.
God is present everywhere, knows everything, and is all-powerful. He is holy, just, merciful and loving. He is sovereign; nothing occurs without his permission and foreknowledge.
(a) God the Father. He is the initiator in Creation and Redemption but did not act without the Spirit and the Son. It is from the Father that everything originates. Most (but not all) Christian prayer is directed to the Father, through the Son (which is why we say, “In Jesus’ name” or “Through Christ our Lord” before saying “Amen” at the end of our prayers), by the Spirit who enables us to pray.
(b) God the Son is related (is “generated” or “begotten”) to the Father eternally. He is uncreated; there is no time when he did not exist. He is the “Word” (“logos” or reason) of the Father, through whom the Father spoke the universe into being. At a moment in time, in obedience to the Father and by the action of the Holy Spirit, the Son became human by being conceived by Mary, a Jewish virgin engaged to Joseph. Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Palestine, and lived as a human, taught about the kingdom of God, performed miracles as signs of the kingdom, and predicted his own death as a sacrifice for sin. He was condemned to death by the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, at the instigation of the religious authorities, and was crucified, died, and was buried in a borrowed grave. On the third day he rose bodily from the dead, appeared on numerous occasions to his followers and then after forty days ascended into heaven where he now intercedes for us. Before he died he commanded his followers to remember his death as a new covenant in bread and wine (known as Communion or the Lord’s Supper). Before he ascended he commanded his followers to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all he had taught. At the end of history he will return visibly and bodily to judge all humanity. Jesus is both fully human and fully divine. He has two natures (human and divine) but one will in one Person.
(c) God the Holy Spirit is the third Person. He proceeds eternally from the Father and is sent temporally (in time) at the Son’s request. He is the giver and sustainer of life, was present at Creation, spoke through the Hebrew prophets, inspired the Hebrew and Christian scriptures and caused Mary to conceive Jesus while she remained a virgin. At Jesus’ baptism the Spirit empowered him for his earthly ministry. The Father raised Jesus from the dead by the power of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit was sent to the early church at Pentecost (50 days after the Christ’s resurrection). The Holy Spirit exalts Jesus as Lord, convicts us of sin and God’s righteousness and the need to be reconciled to God. When one becomes a Christian one receives the Holy Spirit who assures us that God is our Father. He empowers believers, grants them gifts for the service of others, and gradually transforms our characters as we learn to yield to him.
The Material Universe
God created the material universe out of nothing and sustains it. It is therefore good and reflects his glory as a masterpiece reflects the skill and character of the artist. Without him the universe would cease to exist. God is present within the material universe (imminent) but distinct from it (transcendent). God is neither part of Nature, nor Nature part of God, although God is present everywhere in it, and we live and move and exist in God. Matter is neither despised as evil nor worshipped as divine. In the incarnation of Christ, God took on material form as a human. Christ rose bodily from the grave and ascended with his resurrected body to the right hand of the Father. When Christ returns the faithful dead will be raised. Those who believed in him will have resurrected bodies like his; those alive at his return will have their bodies transformed like his. Eternity will not be a bodiless existence. After the judgment at the end of history there will be a new heaven and a new earth. The whole of creation awaits Christ’s return. Christ has provided material sacraments as means of grace to be appropriated by faith, namely water in baptism, wine and bread in the Lord’s Supper. Because God is distinct from created matter Christians may not worship images, but, because the Son took on a physical body, the incarnate Son may be depicted in art.
The Spiritual Realm
God created spiritual beings, called angels, to serve him. Angels are not deities, nor are they mortal. They are creatures of spirit who can, on occasion, appear visibly to humans. At various times God has sent his angels to bring messages to humans, or has occasionally permitted people to catch a glimpse of the spiritual realm.
Lucifer, one of the greatest of the angels, coveted equality with God and rebelled against him, being cast out of God’s presence along with one third of the angels, now called demons. Lucifer is now called the devil, Beelzebub, Satan, the Accuser, the Prince of the Power of the Air and the god of this world. The struggle between good and evil experienced by humans is paralleled in the spiritual realm. There are no neutral spirits; all angels either serve God or the Evil one. Satan tempted our first parents to sin and continues to tempt us. God has granted us the means to resist temptation and the example of Jesus’ resistance to temptation. Satan was defeated at the cross. What we now experience as spiritual warfare is just the “mopping-up operations” before Satan’s final downfall after Christ’s return. Furthermore, God is sovereign; the battle is not an equal one or one in which the final outcome is in doubt. Satan, though powerful and evil is on a long leash and can do nothing more than God permits.
C.S. Lewis, in his book “Screwtape Letters” warns of two opposite and equally dangerous approaches to the spiritual realm: one is to be blissfully unaware of it and therefore have no discernment about the existence of evil, the other is to be unhealthily preoccupied with it. Christians are not to dabble in the occult, or to participate in inter-faith worship which involves the invocation of gods or spirits other than the God who has revealed himself to us as recorded in the Bible.
Man
God created man in his own image, having personhood and the capacity to reason, love and communicate. Originally innocent, man rebelled against God, having been warned of the consequence, and became subject to physical mortality and spiritual alienation from God. The image of God within was thus tarnished but not eliminated. All humans subsequently inherit a predilection for evil, and although capable of choosing to commit specific sins or not, are incapable of restoring the relationship with God thus lost, without his intervention. Every human being, from the moment of conception, is infinitely precious to the God who created us. Every human (other than Christ), no matter how good, is in the same predicament.
Revelation
God has revealed himself in nature and in the history of Israel and her prophets. The Scriptures reveal to us the nature of God, his moral standards, his love, and his call to repentance. He has definitively revealed himself in the person of his Son, Jesus who in turn entrusted the gospel to his apostles and promised that the Holy Spirit would guide the church into all truth.
Sin and Salvation
Sins (plural) are individual acts of commission or omission which are contrary to the will of God. Sin (singular) is a state of existence in which we find ourselves, now that we are alienated from God through the rebellion of the first representative humans whom the Bible calls Adam and Eve. Salvation is the process of restoration of physical, spiritual and mental wholeness made possible by Christ. It begins when we turn to Christ but is not finished in this life. Salvation has past, present and future components. Past: in that Christ has completed through his one unrepeatable sacrifice all that is required to deal with the power and penalty of sin. Present: in that we have to receive the gift of salvation now and cooperate with the Holy Spirit as he works in our lives. Future: in that the work of transforming us into Christ’s likeness, or of becoming partakers of his nature, will not be completed until we reach heaven.
By way of analogy: suppose that a man chooses to jump into an enormous pit of sinking sand. Blinded by dirt in his eyes and deafened by mud in his ears, weakened by his efforts to save himself, he is unable to reach solid ground. His struggling only causes him to sink deeper. God’s arm is long enough to reach out and pull him to solid ground. All the mired man has to do to be saved is grasp the hand offered to him. All too often he strikes out and pushes away the proffered assistance. God is the one who wipes away the mud and dirt, gives the strength to grasp his hand and the faith to trust him to save us. There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation; it is a gift to be received. God is not willing that anyone should perish. He calls everyone to repent and turn to him but he does not force us to respond.
A proper appreciation of the sovereign grace of God leads us to conclude that if anyone is saved it is solely through God’s initiative. If anyone perishes it is by that person’s own responsibility in not receiving the salvation offered.
When we repent of our sin, believe in Christ and put our faith in him, we become God’s children by adoption and new birth, receive his Holy Spirit, are washed by the water of baptism and experience his forgiveness and the power to live a life pleasing to God.
The Church
All faithful Christians who have come to faith in Christ as expressed in Christian baptism are members of the body of Christ, the church. Wherever two or three people gather together in Christ’s name, Christ is with them by his Spirit. Wherever Christ is, there is the church. The church is not a building, an organization or an institution. The church consists of people. One becomes part of the church by becoming a Christian. A local congregation, no matter how small or large, is not “part” of the church; it is the church, just as a drop of water and an ocean are both H2O. Its fullest expression is seen when Christians gather to hear and study God’s Word, and to receive the Sacraments. The early church used the term “church” in two senses only: (a) the local gathering of believers in a given location and (b) all Christians throughout the world (including those who have died) who are connected to each other by a shared trust in Christ. One (of several) metaphors for the church is the family of God. In this new extended family we receive encouragement, support, instruction and accountability. The support helps us to grow and persevere.
Conclusion
The above outline of the Christian faith is intended to represent the core doctrines shared by all the major historic denominations - Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant. Individual denominations would emphasis some or other of these points to a greater or lesser degree or add to them. I have attempted to avoid denominational buzz-words, points of major disagreement and the discussion of the more esoteric aspects of some issues such as eschatology or the best mode, timing or method of baptism or whether there are more than two sacraments. A such, this brief article is a description of what is sometimes called “the Great Tradition”, “ecumenical orthodoxy” or “Mere Christianity” and trust that it will be accepted in that spirit. No attempt has been made to accommodate “Progressive” Christianity which will be discussed in a separate article.
Appendix
The Apostles Creed (a Western statement of faith used at baptisms)
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried;he descended to the dead.On the third day he rose again;he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father,and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,the resurrection of the body,and the life everlasting. Amen.
Ecumenical Version of the Nicene Creed:
We believe in one God,the Father, the Almighty,maker of heaven and earth,of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,the only Son of God,eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light,true God from true God,begotten, not made,of one Being with the Father;through him all things were made.For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven,was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Maryand was made man.For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;he suffered death and was buried.On the third day he rose againin accordance with the Scriptures;he ascended into heavenand is seated at the right hand of the Father.He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit,the Lord, the giver of life,who proceeds from the Father,who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.We look for the resurrection of the dead,and the life of the world to come. Amen.
Monday, April 11, 2005
How Can I become a Christian?
How Can I Become a Christian?
I’m glad you asked that. God’s eternal purpose for you from before the universe began was for you to have a personal relationship with Him. That is why you were born. No matter how wonderful your life is, or whatever else you achieve, if you fail to discover what it means to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, then you have missed the reason for your existence. Jesus called coming to faith him being “born anew” or “born from above” (John chapter 3). We join his family when we come to know God as our heavenly Father.
Peter, the impulsive fisherman who was one of Jesus’ closest followers, tells us how:
38Peter replied, "Each of you must turn from your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38 (New Living Translation.)
In John chapter three Jesus also talks of the necessity of being born again by water and the Spirit, and that if we believe in him we have eternal life. From these passages we see that there are four parts to becoming a Christian: repent, believe in Jesus, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit.
1. Turn 180 degrees from sin, to God. Asking for his forgiveness for our rebellion against him, when it is accompanied by a willingness to change, is called repentance. He even provides the help we need to change.
2 Believe in Jesus: that he is who he claimed to be, that he died in your place and rose again to break the power of sin and death. Paul tells us more about this in Romans 10:9-10 (New Living Translation)
9For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.
3. Be baptized if you haven’t already done so. Baptism is a public identification with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. It represents the washing away of sin. It is the outward and visible sign of the inward reality of what happens when we become a Christian.
4. Receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is active in our lives before we become Christians, drawing us towards God and making us aware of our need for him. When we ask God for forgiveness and turn our lives over to him, his Holy Spirit comes to live within us. He then helps transform our characters to become more like Christ and gives us various gifts so that we can be effective in serving him and others within the church family. The evidence that he is in our lives is the changed character which we gradually begin to exhibit as his influence bears fruit.
These four aspects rightly belong together. This is most obvious when someone from a completely non-Christian background responds in repentance and faith to the good news about Jesus, is baptized and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit is immediately evident in his/her life.These four aspects may be experienced at different times and not necessarily in that order. Some Christians come to faith but never get around to obeying the command to be baptized. That is like becoming engaged but never actually holding the wedding ceremony. Often those baptized as infants never “own” or appropriate what was promised to them in baptism, thus missing out on a close relationship with God that they could have had. That is like getting married but never moving in together as husband and wife, or like receiving a cheque and never cashing it.
Perhaps you’ve never had the opportunity to put your trust in Jesus, or, perhaps you’ve always thought you were a Christian but now you are not sure. There is a way you can be sure. Simply pray a prayer like this one, or even better, pray one in your own words:
“Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me and sending your Son Jesus, to earth to die in my place and to rise again. I am sorry for my sin. Please forgive me and fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I can live effectively for you. In Jesus name. Amen.”
What happens next? Thank God for what he has done. Tell your friends and family. Become part of a local church that is faithful to the Scriptures and where you can be nurtured and mentored in the Christian faith. Ask the pastor or leaders in the church to help you discover or receive the gifts God wishes to give you so you can be an effective part his church. Begin to read the Bible and to pray daily. Be part of a small group or fellowship with whom you can learn to practice the Christian way of life and within which there is mutual support and accountability. We were never meant to follow Christ by ourselves. He has given us his Word, his people and his Spirit to assist us.
I’m glad you asked that. God’s eternal purpose for you from before the universe began was for you to have a personal relationship with Him. That is why you were born. No matter how wonderful your life is, or whatever else you achieve, if you fail to discover what it means to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, then you have missed the reason for your existence. Jesus called coming to faith him being “born anew” or “born from above” (John chapter 3). We join his family when we come to know God as our heavenly Father.
Peter, the impulsive fisherman who was one of Jesus’ closest followers, tells us how:
38Peter replied, "Each of you must turn from your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38 (New Living Translation.)
In John chapter three Jesus also talks of the necessity of being born again by water and the Spirit, and that if we believe in him we have eternal life. From these passages we see that there are four parts to becoming a Christian: repent, believe in Jesus, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit.
1. Turn 180 degrees from sin, to God. Asking for his forgiveness for our rebellion against him, when it is accompanied by a willingness to change, is called repentance. He even provides the help we need to change.
2 Believe in Jesus: that he is who he claimed to be, that he died in your place and rose again to break the power of sin and death. Paul tells us more about this in Romans 10:9-10 (New Living Translation)
9For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.
3. Be baptized if you haven’t already done so. Baptism is a public identification with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. It represents the washing away of sin. It is the outward and visible sign of the inward reality of what happens when we become a Christian.
4. Receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is active in our lives before we become Christians, drawing us towards God and making us aware of our need for him. When we ask God for forgiveness and turn our lives over to him, his Holy Spirit comes to live within us. He then helps transform our characters to become more like Christ and gives us various gifts so that we can be effective in serving him and others within the church family. The evidence that he is in our lives is the changed character which we gradually begin to exhibit as his influence bears fruit.
These four aspects rightly belong together. This is most obvious when someone from a completely non-Christian background responds in repentance and faith to the good news about Jesus, is baptized and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit is immediately evident in his/her life.These four aspects may be experienced at different times and not necessarily in that order. Some Christians come to faith but never get around to obeying the command to be baptized. That is like becoming engaged but never actually holding the wedding ceremony. Often those baptized as infants never “own” or appropriate what was promised to them in baptism, thus missing out on a close relationship with God that they could have had. That is like getting married but never moving in together as husband and wife, or like receiving a cheque and never cashing it.
Perhaps you’ve never had the opportunity to put your trust in Jesus, or, perhaps you’ve always thought you were a Christian but now you are not sure. There is a way you can be sure. Simply pray a prayer like this one, or even better, pray one in your own words:
“Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me and sending your Son Jesus, to earth to die in my place and to rise again. I am sorry for my sin. Please forgive me and fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I can live effectively for you. In Jesus name. Amen.”
What happens next? Thank God for what he has done. Tell your friends and family. Become part of a local church that is faithful to the Scriptures and where you can be nurtured and mentored in the Christian faith. Ask the pastor or leaders in the church to help you discover or receive the gifts God wishes to give you so you can be an effective part his church. Begin to read the Bible and to pray daily. Be part of a small group or fellowship with whom you can learn to practice the Christian way of life and within which there is mutual support and accountability. We were never meant to follow Christ by ourselves. He has given us his Word, his people and his Spirit to assist us.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Sunday, April 03, 2005
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