以福音为中心 – 关于城市福音联络网
为了建立以福音为中心的教会,以及提醒信徒本身对福音的认识,从而更新,城市福联网借着不同管道,传达理念。他们举办讲座、跟进小组、设立媒体平台,针对我国城市生活的种种课题深切思考、研讨,帮助基督徒领袖回应今日所面对的疑难和需要。
为了建立以福音为中心的教会,以及提醒信徒本身对福音的认识,从而更新,城市福联网借着不同管道,传达理念。他们举办讲座、跟进小组、设立媒体平台,针对我国城市生活的种种课题深切思考、研讨,帮助基督徒领袖回应今日所面对的疑难和需要。
In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, churches and networks all over the world have been reconsidering the way they normally function. Many have had to give up on plans that they had for the year. Gospel City Network (GCN), Malaysia, would attest to that as they had a lot of re-ordering to do when it came to their plans for 2020.
Paul Ling from Kuching, Malaysia, attended the Asia Intensive in Bangkok this March and he went out of the Intensive with much eagerness and passion to start his ministry in Kuching but God had different plans for his life and the pandemic has made him realize that. This is his story narrated in a recent interview with City to City Asia Pacific.
The extent of loss and hardship during this time is beyond measure. I don’t know what you are enduring right now, whether it is the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, depression from isolation, a struggle to cope with an addiction…need I go on? Even those who have skated through this pandemic without major losses are possibly, even probably, struggling emotionally or motivationally.
In this interview, Rev. Wong explains why he thinks Chinese Christians should not discard many aspects of their culture. He also suggests ways in which some of these festivals can be redeemed and celebrated.
A new dawn has come to Malaysia. A year ago, for the first time in 61 years, the Malaysian people saw a change in the ruling government of their land. The public turned out in droves — kingmakers and powerbrokers in their own right — bringing to bear the force of the ballot box. Having exercised their democratic right, many continued to stay up till the wee hours to wait for the play-by-play results of the vote-counting process. Watching the sun rise after that fateful night, one couldn’t help but think: what a time to be alive! The returning Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, was seen to be the catalyst for change in a country rocked by a sea of scandals. Amidst criminal allegations plaguing the incumbent Najib Razak, the rakyat rallied across racial and religious lines to stand for accountability, transparency, integrity, and justice. Now, under Mahathir’s leadership, the country’s eager constituents are expecting a quick course-correction for Malaysia to resume its charter. But Mahathir is no angel. While the period under his rule (1981-2003) saw a rapidly progressing, modernising Malaysia, his heavy-handed ways led to accusations that he was a dictator, even earning him the moniker mahafiraun – ‘the almighty Pharaoh’. As the mist of the morning passes, the Malaysian masses will find that Mahathir is not the saviour they have been searching for. For all the progress that Mahathir will effect, there will still be unfulfilled promises, unanswered questions, unresolved conflicts, and most certainly, there will be uncertainties. For the minority Christians in this nation, they must know that God is in control. God has always been in control. He ordains the government he wants in charge – whether Egypt, Babylon, or Pakatan Harapan. They must know that, in fact, earthly authorities are God’s heavenly agents, to commend those who do good and to judge those who do wrong (Romans 13:1-4). Of course, not all governments work this way. Political power has a particular propensity to corrupt. Sometimes, those in power punish good and prosper evil. Yet as Christians, God forbid that we merely point out from afar the evils of lawless leaders while distancing ourselves from the deceitfulness of our own hearts. We are all rebels, sinners, enemies of God — so fervently so that the King of Kings had to die in our place to make us right again. This King, in ages past, has overseen the rise and fall of righteous prophets, judges, and earthly kings to prove that no human institution could cure the cancer of the human condition. This King then himself entered into human history and took our place upon that cross so we would no longer be enemies of God. Remember this King Jesus, who himself faced up to a corrupt, bloated government, and with the armies of angels behind him, walked with his head bowed to a death he did not deserve. True Hope Now having been a year in power, the Mahathir administration is finding that burning idealism is no match for dogged reality. Already on numerous occasions, he has had to call for patience in Pakatan’s delayed delivery of their promised manifesto. And perhaps patience is what we need. But we do not wait as those who are without hope. Our hope cannot be in a change of government. For if the Kingdom is the destination, then we remain in the domain of darkness (Col 1:13-14). And if our citizenship is in heaven, then we remain sojourners, citizens-in-waiting (Phil 3:21). And if we would have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place (Hebrews 10:19) then we know we have no lasting city here on earth. We look to the city that is to come (Hebrews 13:11-14). Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await our Lord and Saviour, who has the power to ‘subject all things to himself’, even an ungodly government. True Citizens True citizens of the heavenly city, are the best residents of the earthly city. Let the church pray for and lend her voice to change. Let those in positions of influence do what they can to effect it. Let us engage as active and committed residents, serving others so that they might see our good works and give glory to our Father in heaven. But let us not forget the church’s mandate — with Christ as her one and only head, to go into the world and announce the gospel of heavenly hope. “My concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right,” once said Abraham Lincoln. Governments will come and go, but the God who ordains them is forevermore. A new dawn indeed for Malaysia, but, from the rising of the sun to its setting, let the name of the Lord be praised!
Do you prefer the Marvel Universe or DC Universe? You may or may not care, but my children have strong opinions on this issue and can give articulate reasons for which universe they think is better. It gives me some comfort to know that they know both universes are pure fiction. However, although they are fiction, they make important observations about our world and the need for outside intervention, even if they don’t always seem to get the point themselves. I want to make two observations and, along the way, note what Marvel and DC miss about human nature. (Note to all comic book nerds, these are broad observations; if I get small details wrong, please forgive me.) The world is deeply broken. The universes of Marvel and DC both portray this reality vividly. Cities are out of control. Gotham is so depraved that even the villains want it destroyed (crime syndicates usually benefit the most from cities in chaos). The recent Aquaman movie reveals the underwater kingdoms to be just as mired in the sinfulness of humanity. The entire the galaxy is full of the same treacheries we know so well in our daily lives. One distortion in these comic book universes, however, is their tendency to blame the state of the world on a few “bad” people. The premise is then to capture or vanquish these “bad” ones so that the world might return to blissful peace. But we know that is not what happens. Evil persists. This is good for the producers of superhero movies because they can sell more tickets. But it is a flaw in problem diagnosis. The world doesn’t return to blissful peace, because sin is still rooted in the hearts of everyone. Loki shows an understanding of this better than anyone in his conversation with Black Widow (The Avengers, 2012). The Black Widow character is concerned about her bad deeds (red in her ledger) and the need to wipe them out. Loki confronts Black Widow with the gravity of her deeds. “Can you? Can you wipe out that much red?… Your ledger is DRIPPING – it’s gushing red – and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer. Pathetic… you pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will NEVER go away.” What Loki describes can be said of all of us. A mere superhero cannot undo the sinful state of the world by taking out a few of its sinful people. Our ledgers are dripping and require outside intervention. The world cannot save itself. Popular culture would have us believe that people are basically good and that, if we just act nicely to each other, the world could be without significant problems. The superhero movies take a somewhat more realistic view of the world and the necessary solution. The worlds depicted by Marvel and DC are faced with seemingly indomitable evil. Destruction is certain unless someone intervenes. But no ordinary person is capable of facing such evil. Only a superhero can tackle it. Quite often the superhero is imbued with royal or divine heritage and even sometimes gives his life in the fight against evil. These superhero stories capture our imaginations in part because we can identify so readily with a world in the throes of sin and corruption. These stories also compel us to hope because they convey that there is one supernaturally able to overcome the most intractable of problems. In other words, these stories hint at the more remarkable and true hope of the Messiah Jesus. The difference is that Jesus recognizes and addresses the evil that takes root in the hearts of all humanity. Jesus is both divine and royal. Jesus has no red in his ledger, but rather takes the red in our ledgers and places it in his. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).
As we approach Christmas season, remembering Christ’s birth, let us also consider the implications of the narrative. To say that Jesus was Incarnate Deity, might seem logically problematic for two reasons. Firstly, to say that Christ is both God and man would seem logically contradictory. After all, God is infinite, able to accomplish all that is logically possible, and yet unable to err. Man, however, being finite, is limited in his capacity. As Alexander Pope stated, “to err is human”. How can Jesus be both infinite and finite? Would the Incarnate Deity be subject to physical limitations? Could he err? Secondly, the idea of God being “born”, implying a beginning, is inherently problematic. Not to mention the idea that God can also die. Who was sustaining the universe when Jesus died? The Christian Trinitarian appeal to the remaining members of the Godhead provides little resistance to the objection. For it would seem that the Tri-Unity of the Godhead had been ripped apart by men. The key to both these problems is essentially the same. It was summed up in the Definition of Chalcedon (A.D. 451) stating that Jesus was “truly God and truly man….to be acknowledged in two natures”. The understanding of Christ as one person with two indivisible natures resolves both the aforementioned problems. Firstly, while it is logically contradictory to assert that Jesus is both infinite and finite, asserting His possession of two natures (infinite and finite) is by no means contradictory. Unlike Greek mythology, where demigods such as Hercules was half God and half man, Jesus is truly God and truly man. As such, he was limited physically in His human nature and at the same time, being veiled in flesh, He was unable to err. As Paul states, “for in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:9, ESV). To illustrate this, imagine the Scripture as the “Word of God” (Mark 7:13). Does this “Word of God” come to us in physical form or does it emerge through an immaterial form? In a sense, it is both! While it may have been revealed to Moses spiritually, it ultimately comes to us in the form of a physical book (The Bible). If this is true of the “Word of God” through Moses, there is no problem in seeing why Jesus, also referred to as “the Word” (John 1:1), could not possibly come to us in both spiritual and physical forms. This illustration can also be applied to the second problem which holds that God could neither be born or killed. If we find a printed date on the Bible, does that mean that God’s eternal word only came into existence on the stated date? Of course not! Likewise, if one were to burn the Bible (this is highly unrecommended), this would not suggest that God’s eternal word had been destroyed by the wicked. Isaiah demonstrates this in his prophecy about the birth of Jesus saying “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given” (Isaiah 9:6, ESV). Notice that only the child (the human nature) is born while the Son (the Divine nature) is given, implying that the Son had a preincarnate existence. Isaiah would go on to say in the very same verse, that the child shall be called “mighty God”. Regarding His death, in the Last Supper, Jesus told his disciples to “Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you” (1 Corinthians 11:24, KJV). It was the “body” (human nature) that was killed on the cross. There was no destruction suffered by the Godhead, only a dignified sacrifice that will result in the glory of the Triune God and the salvation of all who believe. As we celebrate Christmas, let us consider the implication of Jesus’ birth. God has not left Himself without witness. The prophets prophesied what Jesus eventually fulfilled. God took on flesh and mankind now has a perfect mediator before God – Jesus Christ. In the words of Charles Wesley: “Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see; Hail, the Incarnate Deity: Pleased, as man, with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel! Hark! the herald angels sing, “Glory to the new-born King!”
When I planted a church and was confronted by other Christians who wondered “why we need another church in town,” what they were really challenging was the authority I had to invade their town with another church. “Who gave you the authority to plant this church?” they asked me. What they failed to realize is that I was not planting a church on my own authority, or by their misguided understanding of their own authority, but by the authority of the One who said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Matthew 28:18) This is the third of the 3 Reasons Planting Churches is of Infinite Value[1] (see Part 1 and Part 2 here). Reason Three: The Church establishes Christ’s authority on earth. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus says that the foundation-stone of every church is the belief and confession that He is the Son of the living God. He goes on to say that the church is given the “keys to the Kingdom of Heaven” (v. 19) These are not literal keys that give access to a place, rather they access the authority of God. Jesus is using an illustration. It’s like the car I rented at an out-of-town conference. The rental car company owns the vehicle, but I was given authority to use it. Jesus gives the church His authority so that “…whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (v. 19). Churches are outposts of God’s authority on earth. They are a mini embassy of the Kingdom of Heaven, and there are not enough of them yet! Churches are not the authority, but like embassies, we speak on the authority of the King. New churches are needed to alert the world that the King is coming, and He will still issue passports and citizenship to His Kingdom. The mandate of the King is recorded in Matthew 28:18-20, in which we are told to “make disciples of all nations” by going, baptizing, and teaching. Christ’s mandate is to call people to submit to His authority. Now here’s the cool part…when Paul writes his prayer in Ephesians 1:15-23, he thanks God for enlightening our eyes and giving us his glorious inheritance. He then tells us that the reason God raised Christ from the dead is so that we would proclaim Christ’s authority throughout the world. This is the purpose to which God saves us. Verse 21 tells us that Christ’s “authority” would be “above every name that is named.” Here we see why the people of Babel (see Part 1) sinned so significantly in trying to make a name for themselves. It is Christ name alone that we submit to and worship. Paul gives us three reasons: first, that “all things are under his feet,” second, “he is the head of the church,” and third, “he fills all” (vv. 22-23). Christ is making us a people who fully submit to His authority. Our goal, then, is that His authority goes out to all the world because He is coming to rule. We are to plant churches to demonstrate his authority and call people to choose to submit to his reign now as all will do in heaven. Revelation 5 records the song that will be sung in submission and worship in heaven: “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on earth” (vv. 9-10). We plant churches because of the infinite value of establishing Christ’s authority on earth now and for eternity! [1] Content adapted with permission from the Great Commission Collective Global Summit 2018 by Pastor Brian Payne
It is far too common to fall into the trap of thinking that we don’t need to plant new churches. Church planting is a lot of work, takes financial resources, and confronts our selfish, inward-looking, comforts of being part of an established church. However, there are 3 Reasons Planting Churches is of Infinite Value[1] (see Part 1 here). Reason Two: the Church displays the beautiful wisdom of God to the visible AND invisible world. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he is in the middle of explaining how the Gospel breaks down ethnic walls when suddenly he interrupts himself to talk about how God called him to reveal the mystery of the church: “Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace…To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made know to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 3:7-11) Notice a couple important things Paul is teaching us about the church: It was the “mystery hidden for ages in God” meaning that it was not revealed in anything previously communicated by God in the Old Testament. The prophets didn’t know there would be a time called the “church-age,” which we live in now. Jesus revealed it (Matthew 16:18 and 18:17), but Paul was given the stewardship to teach us what the church is to be. God’s multi-faceted wisdom is revealed through the previously unrevealed church. Paul reveals that the purpose of the church is to reveal God’s manifold wisdom. This word “manifold” means multi-colored. So the church is to display the prism of color of God’s perfect ways to the visible world! Even more incredible is the last statement, that God would be made know not just to the visible world, but the invisible world! This last revelation demands further attention. Think of it…the invisible world, both good and evil, are watching what we do as a church. The enemy shudders as they see and realize that God’s plan is working. When you think you are all alone as you do little things for your church that no one sees, there are 10,000 plus eyes in the invisible realm that are witnessing your good work. It is causing the angels to worship and exclaim, “Christ is winning!” Meanwhile the enemy is feeling their defeat. The world we cannot see is celebrating and cowering in their corners as we serve in existing churches and plant new churches! We plant churches because of the infinite value of displaying the beautiful prism of God’s wisdom to the visible and invisible world! [1] Content adapted with permission from the Great Commission Collective Global Summit 2018 by Pastor Brian Payne