ACTS International: Equpping Church Planters

Talking with Christian educators, I found out that some of the challenges of equipping and training leaders for the ministry in Asia today are "high cost of sending them overseas, the problem of training them in a culture different from their homeland, and the likelihood of them staying in the US/UK after their training." There is a gap in learniing ministry with and for their own people.

That's why I'm very keen to learn about different models of Christian training and educations like what's happening at Miami International Seminary and ACTS International.

From Dr Alvin Low:
More than 65% of the world’s population lives in Asia. The most urgent need is to equip national pastoral leaders in Asia for effective ministry and church planting. The pastoral leaders are crying for biblical training and resources which they can use under the unction of the Spirit to produce a lasting impact and an enduring spiritual legacy in their nations.

ACTS International Ministries is committed to fulfilling this critical need in Asia. ACTS exists to equip national pastoral leaders in Asia for effective ministry and to assist the national churches in church planting. In short, ACTS seeks to “prepare leaders,” and to “plant churches.” Our mission is based on Jesus' mandate of Matthew 28:19-20: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" and Apostle Paul's words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2: "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others."

ACTS is a charitable non-profit (501c.3) organization. It is evangelical in stance, interdenominational in scope, and accountable in support. We are governed by an executive board and counseled by an outstanding advisory board. For income we follow the policy of "trusting God and informing His people". We are not privately endowed, but are dependent on the regular and sacrificial giving of God's people. Your prayers and financial support will help us make greater advances in equipping pastoral leaders for effective ministry and church planting in Asia and beyond.

CCM Newsletter: Paper On Pluralism

God Doesn't Play Dice, But Does He Play Mahjong?

So what of dice and mahjong? (by Paul Woods)

In response to developments in quantum mechanics Einstein complained that God does not play dice – the universe’s physical functioning is not based on chance. Neither is its missiological functioning.

A few years ago an OMF colleague and I were discussing the increasing numbers of Mainland Chinese who live abroad. With horizontal, rotary, sweeping motions of both hands, he told me “God is washing the (mahjong) tiles”. Mahjong is the classic Chinese game similar to a combination of playing cards and dominoes, in which the tiles are shuffled or washed after each game. From this we derived the term mahjong theology to advocate Diaspora Ministry. In His sovereignty, today God is shuffling the pack, and washing people from various ethnic groups and cultural backgrounds all over the planet. Just as God washed Ruth and Rahab into the community of faith, so now He is washing Chinese to the UK, for example. This is nothing new; Acts 17:26-27 tell us that God made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

For us, the migration phenomenon of the early 21st century ties together the Great Commission with the ethics of God-fearing community, and an acknowledgement of God’s sovereignty in the affairs of men and women. Indeed, Christian ministry among migrants has been described as Acts 1:8 in reverse; God is bringing people from the ends of the earth right to our street. We are to respond to this challenge right where we live.

Some may perceive migration as a menace, but as citizens and Christians we should view it as ministry opportunity. Unprecedented numbers of people are on the move, looking for safety, freedom, or just a better life. The expansion of the EU and ASEAN, improved communication, and ever-cheaper travel have all shrunk our world. At the same time, poverty, conflict, and hardship in many regions have caused millions to cross borders to richer, more stable nations.

Migrants are often creative, proactive people looking for a better life. There is much anecdotal evidence that migrants are more open to new things than those who remain at home. Yet the same people are vulnerable and needy. Before leaving China, one student was told by non-believing relatives, “If you need help in Britain, go to a church. They will look after you”. Our own Diaspora ministry showed us that
while apologetics and Bible study were important, the vital factor in the journey to faith was God’s love manifest through His people, across a faith – non-faith interface.

Read the entire Encounter issue on Mission and Migration here

Open Source Mission - Translating Gospel Materials

There is a new ministry initiative launching publicly this week called Open Source Mission (OSM). OSM is a non-profit initiative to enable translation of contemporary evangelical materials from English to various languages through the power of mass collaboration. Some of us who frequent this blog have been working on this in various ways over the past few months so we're excited that it's now unveiled and launched.

OSM is founded on the belief that accessibility to biblically sound content is of strategic importance to the vitality of the growing churches worldwide. In particular, we see an opportunity to bring translated Christian materials to the non-English speaking world by taking advantage of technology innovation and an “open source”, participatory model of translation. Our vision is to create a new, revolutionary, framework for translation by combining the following components:

• Global social network of volunteer translators
• Proven “open source” methodology
• Web 2.0 collaboration platform

In essence, what we hope to see are several ongoing translation projects fueled by the passion and skills of volunteer translators, resulting in an online reference portal of translated books and articles in a multitude of languages – all available for free.

The distinctive focus of OSM is simple -

Mass Collaboration - We want to enable translation through the mass collaboration of volunteer translators. We believe the Web 2.0 world has opened unique opportunities for collaboration through a community participatory model. Such models have been proven successful in other arenas. By applying methodologies similar to those used in an open source software projects like Linux or Web 2.0 projects like Wikipedia, we hope to effectively tackle the translation challenge.

Contemporary Gospel Centric Writings - We want to focus on contemporary, evangelical, gospel centric materials. We’re not interested in doing Bible translations – that’s best left to professionals. Nor are we planning to tackle historical writings (i.e. Puritans, Reformers, early Church Fathers) - there are sufficient hurdles in bridging the translation and cultural gap without undertaking the challenge of a historical gap as well. We're initially focused on contemporary translations from our partner organizations.

Leveraging Technology - We want to leverage technology to make these materials accessible. We believe that the trajectory of technology adoption in the developing nations means that the most effective and inexpensive way to get materials to our fellow Christians in these nations is to provide this material on the web, searchable, cross referenceable and free.

OSM, together with partners like Sovereign Grace Ministries, Desiring God, 9 Marks and other like-minded organizations, will work on the Gospel Translation Project. The Gospel Translation Project involves building a "wikipedia type" portal of translated content at www.gospeltranslations.org. (Disclaimer: the portal is currently in beta and content is still being loaded onto the site.)

Initially, our focus will be to work on translating materials from the aforementioned partners who have generously contributed to our translation permissions library.

If you find this intriguing, interesting, or possibly even inspiring, here’s how to get involved:

1. Check out the OSM website , learn more about what we do , offer feedback and please pray for the ministry.

2. If you are bilingual, please consider using your language skills in one of our projects. You can sign up on the OSM website or email our Ministry Coordinator, Andrew Mahr - andrew@opensourcemission.com. By participating in one of our projects, your contribution will impact your fellow Christians for years to come.

3. Please help spread the word. If you're a blogger, please consider blogging about OSM and the Gospel Translation Project. This is a grassroots movement and thrives on individual volunteer initiative. If you should blog on this, please let others know of the need for translation and issue a gracious call for bilingual Christians to consider participating in this.

4. Link to Open Source Mission on your sidebar and let us know. We need help to make this work and we'd love to have you get involved in some way...even if you can't translate.

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We have a number of willing translators in Malaysia and Indonesia but we would be glad to get more help. There are translation projects starting up in a number of languages including Bahasa, Chinese, Korean and Spanish. If you can speak any of these languages, please consider lending your help.

Gospel-pedia

GospelTranslations, a vision birthed from Cahaya Nusantara network (The 'Eastern' face of The Agora that certain postmodernists would prefer to forget) is now online, translators are welcome to participate in this wiki-powered community project: "Our mission is to make gospel-centered resources accessible for Christians of every nation and language. We are a project of Open Source Mission, in partnership with several Christian publishers, and carried out by a world-wide community of volunteer translators.

Our hope is that by translating these resources into the many languages of global Christianity, and furthermore by distributing them for free online, we will be able to make a contribution toward the future health and growth of the church. To read more about this, check out our Mission Statement.

For other information, you can visit our Frequently Asked Questions page, read about how our process works, or visit the Community Portals to see what's going on in your language." (Be patient with the links, Work in progress...)

Many thanks to the pioneer volunteers - Junia, Yenny, Saudara Jubilie Apin frm Sabah, Godlief, Ronald Oroh, Adi and others! Look forward to the collaboration for the gospel... in Indonesia, Malaysia and beyond.

Volunteers with a grasp of Bahasa Msia, Indonesia or Chinese may contact us at hedonese at yahoo dot com

Christianity's center relocated to the South

By Bro Ong

What does the future hold for Christianity? Would Christianity be dead and obsolete? Would the prediction of Voltaire, the 18th century French atheist, considered one of the greatest authors of his generation and who particularly weilded a astringent pen against Christianity, in a moment of self-exaltation boasted that, “In twenty years Christianity will be no more. My single hand shall destroy the edifice it took twelve apostles to rear.” But Voltaire's arrogance bragging was swallowed up on his death, yet Christianity has relentlessly continued on its triumphant march, just as Jesus promised that “the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (Mt 16:18). Voltaire died, in his own words, “abandoned by God and man,” but the Church is still astoundingly to the chagrin of many and the scorn of the Jihads, “favored by God and man.” And Jenkins’ well-researched book provides solid evidences of this fact. His main argument is that the “man” who professes Christ is no longer the stereotype white Western man but rather a non-white person from the Southern Hemisphere.

Throughout his book, Jenkins compellingly contends four propositions, namely that geographically the center of gravity for Christianity has already or soon will be relocating decisively to the Southern Hemisphere. Two, demographically, the majority of Christians are now or soon will be non-white. Most will be Africans, Latin Americans and Asians. Three, theologically the 21st century church will be strongly influenced by Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism. Fourthly, the tension between Christianity and Islam will intensify, and possibly leading to war.

On his first proposition, Jenkins confidently proclaims that Christianity will not only survive, but would be thriving in the future – just that the flourishing will take place in another area and not in the traditional Western world. If Jenkins’ prediction is correct, then by the year 2050, six countries (Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, Nigeria, Congo and the United States) will each have at least 100 million Christians. Sub-Saharan Africa will have superseded Europe as the principle center of Christianity. This analysis is in total contradiction to the many books which argue that secularism, pluralism, post-modernity and other anti-Christianity forces will cause the Church to become ghettoised and eventually leading to her long awaited demise. He persuasively argues against Samuel Huntington’s Clash of Civilization prediction that in the long run, Muhammad will win over Christ, the cresent will overshadow the cross.[1] Base on the current demographic and geographic facts, Huntington’s analysis may not be as credible as it was first thought. Jenkins forecast that by 2050, there will still be about three Christians for every two Muslims worldwide. And these Christians will not be the customary white individual from Western societies.

In addition, theologically this Southern Hemisphere Christians will be characterised by its staunch conservative faith in Scriptures and yet vibrantly demonstrated through Pentecostal-Charismatic expressions such as prophecy, visions, deliverance, healing, and ecstatic utterances. The present rapidly declining Western Christianity has become more liberal and less literal, and more rational and less Spirit-empowered. The contrasting and distinct form of Christianity between the South and North has somewhat caused the more scientific-educated Western Christians to be extremely suspicious of these supernatural forms of spirituality. Some even considered it to be demonic and part of reverting to pagan practices of animistic religions. Yet, there is no denying that South Christianity is burgeoning and impacting many communities. It is estimated that there is more than one billion Pentecostals, cutting across denominations, regions, and ethnic groups. They are likely to be among the poorest and least educated in their various populations, but they will be the ones who are enthusiastically spreading their own Pentecostal-influenced beliefs to the rest of the world.

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[1] Samuel Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996).

This is an excerpt from my book review of The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity (NY: Oxford University Press, 2002), by Phillip Jenkins. I believe Jenkins has already produced a second edition.

I would like to hear your views and comments about the implications for the ASIAN churches. If Jenkins prediction is correct, would do you think we need to do to prepare ourselves and/or to accelerate such transformations?

Asian Perspectives of Jesus

It was during his bible study course on Corinthians that we came upon the idea and the joys of learning together as a community. His life taught me much about dedication, passion for mission and the Word in the Malaysian context. Brother O, another friend of Agora, avid Bible student and Anglican evangelist/mentor has just decided to blog at Global South:

"because the center of Christianity is moving from the Western world, which is normally located in the Northern Hemisphere, to the Southern Hemisphere. Christianity is booming in the Global South (Latin America, Africa, and Asia), but declining rapidly in the West.

What would this mean for us, Asians in particular, who are believers in the Resurrected Savior? What are the long-term implications for the Asian churches?"

So it seems appropriate that I share the following GCF i-Commentary on:
Asian Perspectives of Jesus
By Tan Kang San

"Who do people say I am?... Who do you say I am?" (Mark 8:27, 29)

"For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread…" (1 Cor. 11:23)

The Problem of an Alien Jesus in Asia


Jesus came from Asia. Hypothetically, Jesus is more Asian than Western in outlook and cultural values. But Christianity was brought to Asia by Western missionaries. Did Western missionaries faithfully deliver the biblical, Jewish Jesus to the people in Asia or did they betray Jesus and his message by presenting a Western Christ? Today, Asian churches are actively sending out missionaries. How can missionaries, from Asia and the West, preach a faithful and biblical portrait of Jesus who is true to his Jewish roots and dynamically related to the hearts and minds of local peoples?

Missionaries seek to faithfully transmit the life and message of the historical Jesus found in the Bible. However, in the process of gospel transmission, there is always a danger of foreign cultural additions that Jesus became portrayed as an Englishman or Christianity is seen as a Western religion. Possibly a "betrayal" is
too strong a word because most missionaries came to Asia to bring the gospel with deep love for Christ. Asian Christians are grateful to God for the sacrifices of our Western Christians. However, whenever Western traditions and accretions are added, then inadvertently, the portrait of the original Jesus of the Bible was blurred. This critique of cultural additions to Christ is not a new issue, but one
made since the spread of Protestant missionary work. For example, Keshub Chunder Sen, an Indian religious reformer observed:

"It seems that the Christ that has come to us is an Englishman, with English manners and customs about him… Is not Christ's native land nearer to India than England? Are not Jesus and his apostles and his immediate followers more akin to Indian nationality than Englishmen?

Why should we then, travel to a distant country like England, in order to gather truths which are to be found much nearer our homes? Go to the rising sun of the East, not to the setting sun of the West, if you wish to see Christ, in the plenitude of his glory."

Keshub Chunder Sen (1838-1884)

Today, Christianity's image as a "foreign religion" may be perpetuated through missionaries from Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong or the Philippines. History repeats itself when these Asian missionaries imposed a Jesus alien to local cultures. Enthusiastic Asian churches are adopting national workers and sending short term
workers without adequate cultural understanding of local beliefs.

Leadership of these mission works tend to be in the hands of pastors of supporting churches rather than local missionaries living in the midst of non-Christian cultures. Because these mega-churches paid salaries of national workers, newly formed churches are perpetually dependent on foreign funding. With money and power, the identities of new mission stations are inseparably linked with foreign forms of
denominations, leadership styles, and church structures which project an alien Jesus to the non-Christian communities in Asia.

Potential Images of Jesus from Asia

Speaking of Western theologies, Andrew Walls observed that "Our (Western) existing theologies of church and state were carved out of the experience of Western Christendom, and were never meant to deal with anything as complicated as the networks of political and economic structures that will characterize the twenty first century" (Walls 2002: 113). Walls went on to argue that African and Asian
Christianity have more experiences than most developed countries in dealing with the issues of suffering, ethnic identities and rivalry, religious identities, problems of corruption, power struggles, principalities and spirit worship. If Asian churches are to mature into an agent of transformation in society, then Asian Christian thinkers need to understand and engage deeply with the real issues of
Asian societies. One positive hope for change must be the release of Jesus Christ from Western captivity and images. Missionaries do this by encouraging local Christians to see Christ related dynamically to local cultures. Those who are educated in the West need to be re-trained to see Christ through Japanese eyes, Chinese eyes, Filipino eyes and Indonesian eyes.

With the growth of Christianity in Asia, and the decline of Christianity in the West, Asian Christians stand at an interpretive cross road- whether to continue to rely on Western images of Jesus or to develop new ways of seeing the Asian face of Jesus found in the bible. All metaphors about Jesus must be rooted in the biblical
texts. However, our readings of the bible need to be dynamically related to the diverse contexts of Asia. Just as the early church needed four interpreters of Jesus stories in the gospels, so the Asian church need to see Jesus walking along the Indonesian villagers of Tsunami or the Jesus as a friend of the poor in the slums of Manila or Bangkok. Chinese societies need to be introduced to Jesus as the Tao of Wisdom and the Teacher greater than Confucius. To a great extent, Chinese Christians have not fully explored the different ways in which Jesus can be both "pioneer and perfecter of our faith" (Heb. 12:2).

In Search of an Asian Jesus

How can we facilitate the growth of an Asian face of Jesus? First, new missionaries need to be minimally self-critical of themselves and their own religious traditions. The discipline needed for self-critiques is particularly difficult if missionaries work within mono-cultural or mono-tradition groups. For example, if all the missionaries are Southern Baptist from Texas or Anglicans from Singapore, then these mission groups need to work very hard in discerning whether their forms of Christianity are appropriate in a new mission field. This may not be an easy task because most of us are not always conscious that our cherished religious heritages are culturally conditioned. Sometimes we forget our own prejudices and
are not aware of our ignorance of those positive elements in other cultures.

If the first task dealt with the missionary's own cultural blindness, the second task is to deal with non-Christian's contributions to the problem of an alien Jesus. Today, "Who do people say that I am?" is still a valid starting question for new missionaries. Whenever Christian workers enter into Muslim or Buddhist cultures, they are not preaching Jesus into empty minds. Instead, they will encounter existing portraits of Jesus commonly held by local peoples. Some of these portraits are cultural misunderstandings (Jesus is a Westerner), while others derived from non-Christian teachings or scriptures (Jesus as a mere prophet in the Quran). Jesus Christ of the Bible must take over these non-Christian beliefs and
misunderstandings. Therefore, missionaries need to learn how to address these socio-religious misunderstandings of who Jesus is.

The third task in the process of discovering an Asian Jesus is seeking cultural bridges that connect the relevance of Jesus Christ to existing indigenous beliefs.

For example, Gani Winoyo, developed a Javanese Face of Jesus based on a popular eschatological messianic Javanese figure of Ratu Adil (1999: 65-79). Winoyo researched and discovered deep seated beliefs within Javanese worldviews of "Ratu
Adil," who will be the deliverer, and "harmonizer" of society. He then appropriated the Jesus of the Bible as someone who is able to bring deliverance, Hope and reconciliation in Javanese society. To do this job well, missionaries must view their changed roles from a "Pearl Seller to Treasure Gatherer."

Vincent Donovan, in his work among the Masai people in Tanzania argued that "The task of the missionary is to present the gospel, the task of the people is to express the gospel and its meaning in their own language and thought forms….The field of culture is theirs and ours is the gospel." (Donovan, 1995)

Last but not least, these Asian perspectives of Jesus need to be subjected to the test of scriptures, and found not contradictory to historical images of Jesus accepted in other Christian communities. The Asian Jesus cannot be so inculturated to Asian soils that he is unrecognizable from the Jesus found in the Bible or apostolic Christology.

A Christological Question: Who do you say I am?

Our search for an Asian face of Jesus is ultimately an issue of the Lordship of Christ. The issue is not just what non-Christians think of Jesus- "who do people say I am"; but who is Jesus to Asian Christians- "who do you say I am?" This Christological question penetrates into the depth of Christian worship and discipleship where one's loyalty to Christ is not confined to safe religious boundaries. Contextually, our answers to the question of who Jesus is cannot be completely disconnected from the questions about Jesus commonly held by our Muslim and Buddhist neighbors. Likewise, the Christian portraits of Jesus should emerge from the sufferings and heart struggles of Asia rather than a Christology developed in 17th Century Medieval Cathedral. Radical discipleships must result in Christ penetrating every aspect of socio-economic and political world of Asia. The Apostle Paul has this multiple dimensions of Christ's Lordship when he proclaimed that "Jesus Christ is the first born of all creation; for in Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities- all things were created through Him and for Him" (Col. 1:15-16).

References Cited

Donovan, Vincent. 1995. Christianity Rediscovered. Maryknoll: Orbis Books.

Walls, Andrew F. 2002. The Cross Cultural Process in Christian History. Maryknoll: Orbis Books.

Winoyo, Gani. 1999. "Ratu Adil: a Javanese Face of Jesus." Journal of Asian Mission 1/pgs. 65-79.

Inconvenient Truth: Global Warming

Elder Kee Huat was the Director of Energy Efficiency & Innovation Unit, Suruhanjaya Tenaga which provided him a unique perspective into the issue of global warming and creation care. Last Sunday, he gave an informative and passionate plea for action to the Church. Listen to the audio sermon here

The Powerpoint slides would provide some research data he compiled, painting a grim picture of current situation that requires our response. Towards the end, he gave a Christian response similar to the Creation, Stewardship sections of the Lausanne Evangelical Commitment to Simple Lifestyle document.

He also draws resources from Richard Foster's Discipline of Simplicity for personal application:

"The inward reality of simplicity involves a life of joyful unconcern for possessions. Neither the greedy nor the miserly know this liberty.

If what we have we receive as a gift, and if what we have is cared for by God, and if what we have is available to others, then we will possess freedom from anxiety.

However, if what we have we believe we have got, and if what we have we believe we must hold onto, and if what we have is not available to others, then we will live in anxiety."

What are some outward expressions of Simplicity?

- Buy things for their usefulness rather than their status.
- Reject anything that is producing an addiction in you.
- Develop a habit of giving things away: de-accumulate
- Refuse to be duped by gadgetry: time saving devices almost never save time.
- Learn to enjoy things without owning them: beach, parks public libraries...
- Develop a deeper appreciation for creation. Walk whenever you can, smell the
flowers, watch birds.
- Develop plain simple talk.
- Reject anything that breeds the oppression of others.
- Shun anything that distracts you from seeking first the Kingdom of God.

Only the simple are free. All others are tyrannised by the ambitious self, the demand for recognition thru things, and preoccupation with the opinion of others.

Mission As Peace-Making

NECF interviews Tan Kang San: The world has shrunk with increasing interconnectivity, but it does not seem to make it easier for missionary work in general. With rising religious tension on this side of the pluralistic world, it can be said that the resistance towards Christianity is greater. What is the role of the Malaysian Church in peacemaking?

Tan Kang San: Increasing connectivity is no longer confined to media, travel and communication, but has resulted in ‘new social conditions’ whereby distant events have local impact almost immediately. So, modern Christians feel the resistance against Christianity is ‘greater’ from this sense of immediacy and awareness of alternate responses from people of other faiths. Just as Christian persecutions in Muslim countries were reported internationally, sufferings of innocent lives in Muslim countries have caused inter-religious conflicts globally. Silent apathy and ‘minding our own business attitudes’ are becoming less of an option because this religious tension is felt within our neighborhoods.

Peacemaking is integral to the mission of the Church and the Church has much to offer in terms of fighting against injustices regardless of race and religion. We can do this nationally, so that the dissenting Malaysian Christian’s perspectives on war and conflicts are heard in local media, and eventually it will contribute to the general discussion globally. We can do this locally, whereby our prayers, relief efforts, and compassion transcend race and religion. I find Walter Wink’s Engaging the Powers quite insightful. The powers are not simply human structures or demonic in nature, but they possess an inner spirituality or corporate culture that dominates and controls. Extremism and fundamentalism seem to be the dominant players in religious conflicts while the silent majority is helpless because the enemy is not so easily identifiable.

Finally, there is also a place for intra-dialogue within the Christian Church globally, whereby Western Christians discover diverse Christian positions from Asia or Latin America on the issue of global conflicts.

* Dr. Tan Kang-San is Head of Mission Studies at Redcliffe College, UK and is the Official Spokesperson for World Evangelical Alliance on Interfaith Issues. Previously, Kang-San served with OMF International. Kang-San will be teaching a course for pastors/lay leaders on “Old Testament Theology for Christian Ministry and Mission” at Bible College Malaysia from Aug 5 to Aug 10. For further details, contact Registrar at: maybcm@yahoo.com

John Piper's advice on What to Say About Virginia Tech

21 Ways to Minister to Those Who Are Suffering
April 16, 2007

After the Columbine shootings, John Piper wrote up 21 ways to love and comfort the hurting by trusting wholly in God's sovereignty over all things. He revised them after 9-11. I posted this a couple months ago, but I want to again in light of the Virginia Tech incident that is still developing.

As lovers of an all-powerful God, let us be prepared to love people in their pain by empathetically and mercifully pointing them to a God who is in control.

21 Ways to Minister to Those Who Are Suffering
(Bible verses to accompany each item on this list are available in the full article.)

Read the full list here

Real Love Ministry

Edmund Smith will be discussing how the church could minister to friends who have homosexual orientation, and practical ways in which we could demonstrate love and truth.

NECF: "Edmund lived a homosexual lifestyle from 1983 to 1994. He was born-again in 1994 after he rejected homosexuality. Edmund got married in 1996 to a wonderful wife, Amanda. They moved to Singapore in 1997 as God led them there. From 1997 to 1999, Edmund and Amanda, both went under the teachings & leadership in CHOICES: Exodus International gay ministry. CHOICES is a ministry under Church of Our Savior, Singapore. When they left CHOICES in 1999, they went on to reach out to their gay and lesbian friends and that was the birth of "Real Love Ministry (RLM)". Read more at http://www.r-l-m.com"

Venue: City Discipleship Presbyterian Church
Date: 18 March 2007 (Sunday afternoon)
Time: 1.30 pm

The Asian Face of Christ?

The Problem of an Alien Jesus for Asian Christianity (Chinese Buddhists)

by Dr Tan Kang San

Excerpt: "I will explore Chinese perceptions of Jesus and illustrate how traditional Christian mission approaches need to engage with these portraits of Jesus. For a start, Chinese Buddhists universally view Jesus as a moral teacher, someone as great as Buddha, Confucius, and Lao Tze. Traditionally, this has been bad news for Christians who impatiently pointed out that Jesus is Lord and God of the universe.

While Jesus as a moral teacher may be a bad place to end, it is not a bad place to start! The moral teachings of Jesus in the Bible can be studied and discussed with Buddhists, just as Christians need to study the moral teachings of Buddha and Confucius. The Sermons on the Mount, Parables and the teachings of Jesus in the gospels, stories of Jesus’ interaction with the poor and marginalized are powerful stories for presenting Jesus as a moral teacher. Superficially, Christians have been doing this but they did it in the spirit of evangelism rather than a genuine acceptance of Jesus as a moral teacher. ...

Last but not least, these Asian perspectives of Jesus need to be subjected to the test of the scriptures, and found not in contradiction with historical images of Jesus accepted in other Christian communities. The Asian Jesus cannot be inculturated to Asian soil to the extent that he is unrecognizable from the Jesus found in the Bible or apostolic Christology. Therefore, efforts to present Christ as an incarnation of Buddha will cause more confusion than clarity for Buddhists... "

Read the entire article here

There And Back Again: Malaysian Exiles

Antony Loke wrote this biblical exposition to "show how an Old Testament exilic text, in this particular case, Isaiah 40-55, can be read in the light of and allowed to speak to a contemporary situation: the post-1987 Operation Lalang Malaysian Church."

Excerpt: "How did the Malaysian church respond to this national crisis (DC:Operasi Lalang)? Unfortunately, it was not too well. The morning edition of the Star national newspaper showed a blackened photo, to protest against the Government’s use of the ISA.

While the rest of the nation raised a hue and cry against the injustice, the Malaysian church was unduly silent. In the days and weeks that followed, the Malaysian church did not respond in its Christian magazines and publications or local church newsletters with the single exception of the Catholic Asian News (CAN) which openly called all Roman Catholics to pray and hold masses for those detained, regardless of whether the detainees were Roman Catholics or not.

The self-imposed muzzled silence of the rest of the Malaysian church was perplexing and baffling.

Why did it respond in this manner? Was it purely out of fear? Fear of further repercussions from the Government, which was already emboldened to use the ISA and which, it was felt, would not hesitate to use it again? Was the self-muzzling an act of restraint lest the more vocal prophetic voices within the church lashed out against the Government’s actions and caused more harm in that volatile situation? From hindsight, we are better able now to judge the response of the Malaysian church. But at that time, what would have been our response in the midst of the confusion, despair and despondency that had crept into the church?"

Read the entire article here

The Malaysian Dilemma

Peter Rowan is the lecturer who has influenced me the most, over the course of my crawlingly slow part-time studies in Malaysia Bible Seminari. While he was in CDPC, I always look forward to his sermons on mission and theology. Miss him much since he's back in Ireland.

He got some of us to do some surveys for his research on mission in Malaysia, and I'm glad he finally got a version of this fantastic article online.

Where Is The Racially Reconciled Community?
Peter Rowan

"Here is an issue that is always current and potentially explosive but which is only occasionally discussed in theological circles, and rarely addressed in the congregational setting of many Malaysian protestant churches: racial integration.
The diversity of Malaysian society is well known: a majority Muslim country with significant Chinese, Indian and indigenous communities. On the verge of celebrating 50 years of independence, Malaysia has much to be proud of. But substantial racial integration remains illusive...

since reconciliation is at the heart of the gospel, and since the gospel transcends the barriers of race, ethnicity and culture, and since the church is the most inclusive community on earth, the local church is a community of hope in a fragmented world.

In Malaysia, the church has the task of not only proclaiming the message of reconciliation to all Malaysians, but of embodying the concrete implications of that message in its community life, so that Malaysians of all races can look at a local church community and see the gospel fleshed out in a racially reconciled group of people who can work, worship and witness together."

A MUST READ!

Pemodenan, Kebangkitan Agama dan Pertembungan Budaya : Teologi Budaya dan Keterlibatan Sosial (1)

tulisan Dr. Ng Kam Weng, untuk NECF
(terjemahan Keropok Lekor)

A. KESAKSIAN INTELEK KEPADA MASYARAKAT UMUM

Adolf Hernack telah memerhatikan bahawa kebangkitan gereja awal bukan sahaja kerana kasih mereka melebihi kumpulan lain, tapi pemikiran mereka juga menjangkau para pengkritik. Orang Kristian awal yakin tentang kebenaran intelek dan kerasionalan wahyu Kristiani.

J.G. Machen telah menulis, “Kita boleh berkhutbah dengan sepenuh semangat seorang Reformer tetapi hanya boleh memenangi hati seorang dua di sana sini, jika kita membenarkan seluruh pemikiran masyarakat dan dunia keseluruhan dikuasai oleh idea-idea yang secara logiknya menyempitkan Kristianiti sebagai suatu delusi semata-mata”

Kita mesti menghadapi cabaran daripada budaya yang menentang Kristianiti jika kesaksian Kristiani hendak mempunyai kredibiliti.

• Mempunyai pemahaman yang penuh tentang dunia moden.

• Mengenalpasti isu penting untuk dihadapi jika kita ingin mengikut saranan J.H. Bavinck untuk menawan budaya dan pemikiran dalam Kristus.

• Membentuk semula konsep untuk refleksi Kristiani dan meletakkan keutamaan untuk pendidikan teologi. Banyak kali aktivisme telah mengambil tempat refleksi teologi yang serius apabila kita berjuang dalam krisis masa kini. Tetapi dalam ketiadaan dasar intelek yang unik dan ketidakupayaan kita untuk mengeluarkan kritikan terhadap andaian dan paten pemikiran dominan dunia, kita akan berakhir dengan hanya sia-sianya melayan agenda elit bukan Kristian dan akhirnya dipengaruhi kekuasaan masa kini.

• Memastikan bahawa teologi didasarkan terhadap tradisi Alkitabiah dan dihubungkan dengan realiti kontekstual. Ini memerlukan satu pendekatan baru kepada pendidikan teologi dan cara melatih pemikir dan pengembala Kristian.

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