Christian cults in Singapore: Something not to be taken lightly

Extracted and adapted by Joseph Soh

September 17, 2012

SINGAPORE—In 25^th May 2012, I was approached by this guy from World Mission Society Church of God at Tai Seng, which is at the outside, there is a furniture store, and it look more like a industry complex, and they will tell you their “church service” is at that location, which to me I find it suspicious.

The next thing I saw was the funny picture of the current cult leader, Zahng Gil-Jah, after Ahn Sahng-hong who was the cult’s founder, was treated as treated as “Jerusalem father” or “Jerusalem mother”. This is indeed heretical to me and I find it a nuisance, but at the same time, worrying for my own friends who aren’t aware of all this, falling into these traps without knowing the definitions of what is a Christian cult and what isn’t.

To understand this concept of what is a Christian cult, I’ve extracted quite a few articles from sources like Wikipedia, and typically, these are the common characteristics of Christian cults, and I too have these same sentiments as from these definitions of what is a Christian cult, and recognizing the danger of being brainwashed, if not careful.

Typically, all Christian cults had many “cultic” characteristics. These include:

• believing that its baptism by repentance and full immersion in water is the only true form of becoming a Christian
• making members confess their sins and private thoughts to leaders
• making members submit papers on how they spend their time
• encouraging members to leave home to live communally
• encouraging members to date and marry only fellow members
• making members submit sin lists to leaders
• pressuring members to recruit new members
• teaching members that their church is the only true church
• making attendance of all church meetings compulsory
• disciplining members who question the authority of leaders

Few Christian cults that are prevailing in Singapore—BEWARE!!

1.     World Mission Society Church of God

World Mission Society Church of God was founded by Ahn Sahng-hong in 1964. The church believes that he is the second coming of Christ because of his fulfillment of prophecies. Ahn Sahng-Hong, died in 1985 leaving the leadership of the church to his spiritual wife, Zahng Gil-Jah, known in the church as “the Heavenly Mother”, and the General Pastor is Kim Joo-Cheol. Its headquarters are located in Bundang, Sungnam City, Kyunggi Province, roughly an hour away from Seoul. Zahng is also chairperson of the New Life Welfare Foundation and of the International We Love You Foundation.

The church believes that Zahng Gil-Jah is “God the Mother,” who they believe is referred to in the Bible as the New Jerusalem Mother (Galatians 4:26), and that Ahn Sahng-Hong is God the Father. The church regards the earthly family system as a copy and shadow of the heavenly family system (Hebrews 8:5), consisting of a Heavenly Father, Heavenly Mother, and the spiritual brothers and sisters (humans).

The church of god holds “the three ‘R’ movements”: “Restore the Faith of the Early Church”, “Restore the Truth of the Early Church”, and “Redeem the Whole World”, as stated by the Chief Pastor Joo-Cheol Kim. The members pray in the name of Ahn Sahng-Hong, whom they believe the scriptures testify is the Second Coming of Christ.

Due to its deviation from mainstream Christian beliefs, many outside of the organization consider the World Mission Society Church of God to be a cult. The Christian Council of Korea, which represents Protestant churches in the country, has declared the World Mission Society Church of God “heresy”. The church argues that this allegation is groundless, with a court case going as far as the Korean Supreme Court clearing their name of the specific charges. Other Christian denominations in Korea allege the Church “worships a man,” mistreats minors, and destroys families. The Church has been accused of breaking up families when women followers have left home and settled in Church of God buildings to await the “coming of Christ”.

They do believed in water baptism by “pouring water” on you, telling you things that they are the only true church and the rest are worshipping the “sun god” of Sunday and accuses Emperor Constantine for decreeing the man-made worship despite historically Emperor Constantine was just being a convert himself, and only legalizing Christianity in the Roman Empire at that time.

They also have sorts of funny practice, but more towards Korean practices, which personally I find it suspicious and skeptical, and their “book of life” is a false one, but instead they use it as a tool of harassment to their members who fell victims to them as members, requiring them not only required to recruit new members, but also required to come for their “service” on the required days, and it is required for their members to take Sabbath day on Saturday seriously, disassociate other Christians outside their cult, and are also required to visit Korea for their so-called “Jerusalem mother”.

2.     Jehovah Witness

Jehovah’s Witnesses is a millenialist restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The organization reports worldwide membership of over 7.65 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual Memorial attendance of over 19.3 million. They are directed by the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, a group of elders in Brooklyn, New York, that establishes all doctrines. Jehovah’s Witnesses’ beliefs are based on their interpretations of the Bible and they prefer to use their own translation, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. They believe that the destruction of the present world system at Armageddon is imminent, and that the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth is the only solution for all problems faced by humankind.

The group emerged from the Bible Student movement—founded in the late 1870s by Charles Taze Russell with the formation of Zion’s Watch Tower Tract Society—with significant organizational and doctrinal changes under the leadership of Joseph Franklin Rutherford. The name Jehovah’s witnesses, based on Isaiah 43:10–12, was adopted in 1931 to distinguish themselves from other Bible Student groups and symbolize a break with the legacy of Russell’s traditions.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are best known for their door-to-door preaching, distributing literature such as The Watchtower and Awake!, and refusing military service and blood transfusions. They consider use of the name Jehovah vital for proper worship. They reject Trinitarianism, inherent immortality of the soul, and hellfire, which they consider to be unscriptural doctrines. They do not observe Christmas, Easter, birthdays, or other holidays and customs they consider to have pagan origins incompatible with Christianity. Adherents commonly refer to their body of beliefs as “the truth” and consider themselves to be “in the truth”. Jehovah’s Witnesses consider secular society to be morally corrupt and under the influence of Satan, and limit their social interaction with non-Witnesses.

Congregational disciplinary actions include disfellowshipping, their term for formal expulsion and shunning. Baptized individuals who formally leave are considered disassociated and are also shunned. Disfellowshipped and disassociated individuals may eventually be reinstated if deemed repentant.

The religion’s position regarding conscientious objection to military service and refusal to salute national flags has brought it into conflict with some governments. Consequently, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been persecuted and their activities are banned or restricted in some countries. Persistent legal challenges by Jehovah’s Witnesses have influenced legislation related to civil rights in several countries.

In 1972 the Singapore government de-registered and banned the activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses on the grounds that its members refuse to perform military service (which is obligatory for all male citizens), salute the flag, or swear oaths of allegiance to the state. Singapore has banned all written materials (including Bibles) published by the International Bible Students Association and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, both publishing arms of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. A person in possession of banned literature can be fined up to S$2,000 (US$1,460) and jailed up to 12 months for a first conviction.

In February 1995, Singapore police raided private homes where group members were holding religious meetings, in an operation codenamed “Operation Hope”. Officers seized Bibles, religious literature, documents and computers, and eventually brought charges against 69 Jehovah’s Witnesses, many of whom went to jail. In March 1995, 74-year-old Yu Nguk Ding was arrested for carrying two “undesirable publications”—one of them a Bible printed by the Watch Tower Society.

In 1996, eighteen Jehovah’s Witnesses were convicted for unlawfully meeting in a Singapore apartment and were given sentences from one to four weeks in jail. Canadian Queens Counsel Glen How flew to Singapore to defend the Jehovah’s Witnesses and argued that the restrictions against the Jehovah’s Witnesses violated their constitutional rights. Then-Chief Justice Yong Pung How questioned How’s sanity, accused him of “living in a cartoon world” and referred to “funny, cranky religious groups” before denying the appeal. In 1998, two Jehovah’s Witnesses were charged in a Singapore court for possessing and distributing banned religious publications.

In 1998 a Jehovah’s Witness lost a law suit against a government school for wrongful dismissal for refusing to sing the national anthem or salute the flag. In March 1999, the Court of Appeals denied his appeal. In 2000, public secondary schools indefinitely suspended at least fifteen Jehovah’s Witness students for refusing to sing the national anthem or participate in the flag ceremony.[ In April 2001, one public school teacher, also a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses, resigned after being threatened with dismissal for refusing to participate in singing the national anthem.

Singapore authorities have seized Jehovah’s Witnesses’ literature on various occasions from individuals attempting to cross the Malaysia-Singapore border. In thirteen cases, authorities warned the Jehovah’s Witnesses, but did not press charges.

As of 2008, there were 23 members of Jehovah’s Witnesses incarcerated in the armed forces detention barracks for refusal to carry out mandatory military service. The initial sentence for failure to comply is 15 months’ imprisonment, with an additional 24 months for a second refusal. All of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in detention were incarcerated for failing to perform their initial military obligations and expect to serve a total of 39 months. Failure to perform annual military reserve duty, which is required of all those who have completed their initial 2-year obligation, results in a 40-day sentence, with a 12-month sentence after four refusals. There is no alternative civilian service for Jehovah’s witnesses.

3.     The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS Church or, colloquially, the Mormon Church) is a Christian primitivist church that considers itself to be a restoration of the church founded by Jesus Christ. The church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has established congregations (called wards or branches) and built temples worldwide. With over 55,000 missionaries worldwide, the church currently has a membership of over 14.4 million and is ranked by the National Council of Churches as the fourth largest Christian denomination in the United States. It is the largest church originating on American soil, and it is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith during the period of religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening.

Adherents, referred to as Latter-day Saints or, more informally, Mormons, view faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement as the central tenet of their religion. LDS theology includes the Christian doctrine of salvation only through Jesus Christ, though LDS doctrines regarding the nature of God and the potential of mankind differ significantly from mainstream Christianity. The church has an open canon which includes four scriptural texts: the Bible (both Old and New Testaments), the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Other than the Bible, the majority of the LDS canon constitutes revelation dictated by Joseph Smith and includes commentary and exegesis about the Bible, texts described as lost parts of the Bible, and other works believed to be written by ancient prophets.

Under the doctrine of continuing revelation, Latter-day Saints believe that Jesus Christ, under the direction of Heavenly Father, leads the church by revealing His will to its president, whom adherents regard as a modern-day “prophet, seer, and revelator”. The current president is Thomas S. Monson. Individual members believe that they can also receive personal revelation from God in conducting their lives. The president heads a hierarchical structure with various levels reaching down to local congregations. Bishops, drawn from the laity, lead local congregations. Worthy male members, after reaching age 12, may be ordained to the priesthood. Women do not hold positions within the priesthood, but may occupy leadership roles in Church auxiliary organizations.

Both men and women may serve as missionaries, and the church maintains a large missionary program which proselytizes and conducts humanitarian services worldwide. Faithful members adhere to laws regarding sexual purity, health, fasting, and Sabbath observance, and are asked to contribute ten percent of their income to the church as a tithe. In addition, the church teaches sacred ordinances through which adherents make covenants with God, including baptism, confirmation, the sacrament (holy communion), endowment, and celestial marriage (marriage blessings which extend beyond mortality), which are of great significance to church members.

4.     Unification Church (Moonies)

The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity is a new religious movement founded in South Korea in 1954 by the late Sun Myung Moon. It is more commonly known as the Unification Church or the ‘Moonies’ (this latter name is unofficial and usually considered derogatory). Since its inception, the movement has expanded to most nations of the world and it now counts its membership at five to seven million, although most experts dismiss such high figures.

Unification Church beliefs are based on the Bible and are explained in the church’s textbook, Divine Principle. The Blessing ceremony of the Unification Church, a wedding or marriage rededication ceremony, is a church practice which has attracted wide public attention. The Unification Church has tried to engage in interfaith activities with other religions, including mainstream Christianity and Islam, despite theological differences.

The Unification Church has sponsored many organizations and projects over the years; including businesses, news media, projects in education and the arts, and political and social activism. It has a large ‘megachurch’ in Seoul, Korea and the Peace Island in Liberia with the New Hope Academy situated there. The church was led by Moon until his death on September 3, 2012, at which time, it was reported that his wife Hak Ja Han and their sons Hyung Jin Moon and Kook Jin Moon would assume the leadership of the church.

In 1982, Unification Church was de-registered and was banned in Singapore.

Actual history v.s. Alternate history

The Emergent Deception—the evolution factor

(extracted from: http://creation.com/emergent-church-evolution)

What every pastor and every Christian needs to know about the Emergent Church movement

Brian McLaren Credit: Images from stock.xchng and Wikipedia

by Lita Cosner

Published: 31 March 2011(GMT+10)

“Brian McLaren: Christians in denial over evolution of faith,” screamed one headline.¹ Another reprint of the same article quoted him as saying, “Evolutionary Christianity has freed me.”² When we wrote about the Evolutionary Christianityteleseminar series, we said it was unclear what exactly the ‘rockstar of the emergent church’ (not our moniker for him) had to add to a discussion about evolutionary Christianity. Given the favorable press his teleseminar session received, it seemed worth revisiting it.³

What is the Emergent Church? And who is Brian McLaren?

The Emergent Church is one of the fastest-growing movements in American Christianity today. They are hard to ‘nail down’ with definitions, as definitions are one thing they work studiously to avoid. Generally, they emphasize social justice and acting in the community over ‘dogma’ and doctrinal correctness. They look for new ways to engage in postmodern culture, and embrace the culture themselves to varying degrees (though some in the Emergent Church would strongly disagree with this characterization, or any characterization, of their views). This “Lest we offend approach” has much appeal to Christians wanting to engage the culture, but many would also not realize that they value dialogue and draw heavily from Eastern and Catholic influences on spirituality. It smacks of a ‘many ways to God’ type religious views.

Widely hailed as a ‘rockstar’ of the emerging church, McLaren is controversial for, among other things, fasting during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan a few years ago.

Brian McLaren describes himself on his website as an “author, speaker, activist, and public theologian.” He is a former pastor and has authored many books on various topics, including A New Kind of Christianity and Naked Spirituality, most recently. He was included in Time magazines “25 Most Influential Evangelicals”, and was described there as an “elder statesman” of the emerging church. Widely hailed as a “rockstar” of the emerging church, he is controversial for, among other things, fasting during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan a few years ago.

McLaren’s faith

McLaren several times referred to his “fundamentalist” upbringing. He said that as he was naturally interested in science and art, and as a natural learner and questioner, he “was on a collision course” with the sort of Christianity he was brought up to believe. He described himself as “on his way out” of the Christian faith by the time he was a teenager. He ultimately found a form of Christianity he could accept in the Jesus Movement. In faith, he values experience over dogma and ‘right belief’.

He expressed a negative view of people who ‘had all the answers’. He seemed to think of that as a narrow and dogmatic way to view the world. Instead, we should question, and learn from other views. This all seems very noble and open-minded, but it becomes problematic if we dig a bit deeper. Questioning isn’t supposed to be an exercise in and of itself—at some point, ideally we would come to some sort of answer. That answer might be refined over time as we gain access to new insights and a deeper understanding of the dynamics involved, but at some point we should be able to define a fundamental truth and say with some certainty “This is the answer.” And to be able to say this confidently is not a mark of arrogance if it is grounded in our conviction of scriptural truth.

Developing religion

In religion, he claims, “People are looking for the next step in their development.” And depending where they are in that progression, answers and explanations that seem to make sense to one person may seem ridiculous to someone else. In illustration, he gives the story of a Cambodian woman who came to faith after Pol Pot’s genocide. When she spoke of hearing the Gospel, he asked her what that Gospel was. She replied that really what it was is that there was a God who created the universe, and that maybe if there was a God there was some hope in the midst of all that loss. Great, but what about some instruction on how to find that God, or how to be saved from her sin?

While we would argue that the Gospel is in fact that Jesus Christ came to earth to pay the penalty for man’s sin, that He was raised on the third day, and that salvation is only through Him (to give the barest outline—see our Good News statement for a more full explanation of the Gospel), God as Creator is certainly the basis for the Gospel. McLaren, however, seemed to think of that as a primitive belief that was useful insofar as it gave the woman hope, but one gets the impression that he thinks of it as something one would ideally outgrow.

One central idea in McLaren’s argument several times is that we’ve got more knowledge today, and that changes how we interpret Scripture. This is relatively misleading. Biblical creationists could also argue that the wealth of scientific knowledge we have today actually supports biblical creation. He says, “For the first time in history we have access to all the feeling states that humans have always needed to thrive.” These states include trust, gratitude, and inspiration. He argues that for most of human history, mythic beliefs were the only way to instill these feelings, because there wasn’t the knowledge of ‘deep time’ and billions of years. The host, evolutionary evangelist, the Reverend Michael Dowd, made the comparison to how ancient people made up gods when they didn’t understand phenomena like lightning and thunder, but now we know what causes lightning and thunder. In the same way, it is implied, what we’ve learned about how the universe actually works, now that we know that everything evolved over billions of years, the Genesis ‘myth’ is, if not outmoded, in need of a serious reappraisal to see where it actually fits in an enlightened postmodern outlook.

McLaren says that these evolutionary beliefs that couldn’t have been known prior to the modern age are “so much richer than the mythic beliefs we had before.” “Mythic” beliefs like God’s creation of the world, His providential love for humanity that caused Him not to abandon us even after we rebelled? “Mythic” beliefs like God coming to earth in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, and then dying the most ignominious, horrific death that the people of that day could dream up to pay for our sin? “Mythic” beliefs like Him rising on the third day? If one is a myth, how are the others historical? Because the same ‘science’ that says the earth is billions of years old and that all life evolved says that dead people don’t come alive again on the third day. One wonders what is McLaren’s logical basis for accepting one ‘myth’ (and I hope that he does accept the Resurrection, because one must believe that to be a Christian) while rejecting the other. Where does the truth begin, after all?

‘We know more today’

Dowd points to the scientific knowledge of how the world works that has been revealed in the last 200 years “that couldn’t have been revealed to the Apostle Paul, that couldn’t have been revealed to Moses.” One almost expected him to continue “that couldn’t have been revealed to Jesus,” but thankfully at least he didn’t consciously take that step.

I have no problem with saying that Paul didn’t know about nuclear fission, and that Moses didn’t know anything about atomic theory. In a sense, we do know some things that Paul and Moses didn’t know about. But I don’t think that’s what Dowd was saying here. He’s speaking specifically of the evolutionary understanding of the world’s history and life. And if that ‘story’ (both participants in the teleconference session were very fond of the word ‘story’) is correct, then it’s not just that Paul and Moses didn’t know some stuff, it’s that they thought some stuff was true that actually wasn’t. And if that’s true, then that throws a spanner into the whole of Scripture, because if they could be wrong about something that important, if God could have misled them, or if He could have been misinterpreted there, then how can we believe Scripture when it says that Jesus is the only way to salvation? “If I tell you of earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you of heavenly things?” (John 3:12).

But do they believe that Jesus is the only way to salvation? In a series called Evolutionary Christianity, one could be forgiven for expecting some semblance of Christian thought, and at least nominal acceptance of some of the really core beliefs. But if they believe that the Bible is revelation from God in any meaningful sense that puts it on a plane above, say, The Code of Hammurabi orMastering the Art of French Cooking, it certainly doesn’t show in their statements. They talk about ‘ancient Genesis myths’ and ‘Egyptian creation myths’ without differentiating any substantial difference as far as inspiration is concerned. These stories, along with apparently everything else, “emerged in conversation” with each other and other creation myths, each trying to solve problems in the others. In this view, we’re asked to view the myths not in terms of ‘true’ and ‘false’, but how ‘helpful’ or ‘unhelpful’ they are. They claim that ‘from this standpoint we can see the deep wisdom in virtually all of them.” But I would argue that this view actually disrespects the texts themselves, which make truth claims, and so should be evaluated on that level. And it almost goes without saying that this is certainly not a biblical way to view them.

They claim that even in these stories, there’s a sort of “evolutionary unfolding.” But the stories still haven’t evolved completely. McLaren makes the statement that we don’t yet have a unified statement that allows us to see each other as brothers and sisters worldwide, or one global family; our creation stories are apparently still at a level that “facilitates cooperation at a smaller scale.” But we do have a better, more unifying creation story that allows us to see ourselves as one human family—the creation account in Genesis proclaims that every single human being is descended from Adam and Eve, and everyone alive today is descended from Noah and his three sons. This is a very recent common ancestor, which makes us all very closely linked, as modern genetic evidence suggests. But this creation story would not allow us to see each other as brothers and sisters if it was not based upon actualhistory.

The ‘benefits’ of an evolutionary outlook

McLaren spends a lot of time talking about what Genesis doesn’t mean, but he doesn’t actually get around to saying what it doesmean. He says that it’s a really good story that explains what’s fundamentally wrong with us, why we want to do things but we don’t, why we break our word, let people down, etc. But unless one takes a literal historical view of Genesis and the Fall, one wonders how one can define what is morally wrong or right? But he has an answer for this. Lest we think for a moment that he’s actually taking a high view of Genesis where it really explains why we are the way we are, he quickly says, “But now we understand that we have instincts that don’t match our world.” He argues that the instincts that we have now helped our ancestors to survive, but those instincts are not appropriate for the modern world in which we live. But if they were appropriate in ancient times, why do we have ancient codes that condemn those tendencies? All this view does is make man, not God, the ultimate authority of what is wrong or right.

He says that we should be grateful for those tendencies, because they helped our ancestors to survive; without them, we literally wouldn’t be alive, in that view. But then, is he calling sin good, just hundreds of thousands of years ago? McLaren derides the view that we are the way we are because our great-great … grandmother ate an apple, saying that it has “no explanatory power, no gratitude.” Well, for starters the Bible doesn’t say it was an apple, but nonetheless the event actually has a great deal of explanatory power, if you believe that’s what actually happened. It would certainly take some “explanatory power” to justify a God who created us with impulses that would allow us to survive and evolve, and then to say that those very things He created us with are sinful.

McLaren claims that since he realizes this, he doesn’t struggle with his sinful nature, and that he doesn’t feel guilty like he used to. He uses the example of seeing a beautiful woman, and says, “Of course I think that woman should be carrying my child!” But he says the understanding of evolutionary psychology means that he knows why he’s attracted to the woman, and simultaneously allows him to reject those impulses. Dowd agrees, saying that the view that certain behaviours consign people to Hell while others get people into Heaven is a very “pre-moral” way of looking at things that may help some people at a primitive moral state, but that this way of perceiving right and wrong creates an “inner world” of shame, hypocrisy, and leads people to be unacceptable. Sexual attraction (not always directed appropriately) is one part of our makeup that was advantageous as we evolved, but that isn’t always now. But that seems to be trivializing and justifying the sin of lust, which Jesus certainly didn’t just shrug his shoulders at and say, “Oh well, you evolved to be that way” (cf. Matthew 5:27-28).

The claim itself that a Christian isn’t struggling with their sin nature is problematic, because even with all of its definite calls to holiness and rejection of sin, the Bible is very candid about the human propensity toward sin. 1 John 1 says that if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, and that if we claim we have not sinned, we make Jesus out to be a liar and His word is not in us (vv. 8, 10). Is this what McLaren and Dowd are claiming? Perhaps, but I think it is more likely that they are redefining the problem until it is practically impossible to call any propensity towards wrong action sinful.

An underlying problem

He referred to creation as one might refer to a crazy old aunt—he had to acknowledge it was there, but wanted to change the subject as quickly as possible.

As disturbing as some of these comments were, the underlying attitude toward Scripture, and Christianity in general, was far more serious in my opinion. One waited in vain for any statement that was unapologetically and specifically Christian. He seemed to be apologizing for Scripture rather than presenting an apologetic; he referred to creation as one might refer to a crazy old aunt—he had to acknowledge it was there, but wanted to change the subject as quickly as possible. Even religious terminology was apologized for with phrases such as “if I can use such faith-based terms”, etc.

Not everyone who becomes an evolutionist will go down the slippery slope to liberalism and eventually unbelief. But examples like McLaren and Dowd show that the slope is not simply hypothetical. Simply because some theistic evolutionists are otherwise evangelical and orthodox does not make that an ‘okay’ view for Christians to hold. We’re not saying you can’t be a saved evolutionist—we’ve never said that. But we see over and over again that how one takes Genesis can be indicative of one’s view of Scripture in general. What was demonstrated in this teleconference was not just disbelief in Genesis, but a rejection of a biblical view of sin (sin becomes things that we evolved to help us survive several hundred thousand years ago) and salvation (there are good things in other faith traditions, other ‘myths’). In its place, they’ve embraced the evolutionary worldview and a ‘many ways to God’ approach while retaining some ‘Christianisms’ to make it easier for evangelicals to swallow.

Unfortunately, many lay Christians are eager to appease the world and make Christianity more acceptable and appealing in the hope that many more will accept the faith. But, in the process, McLaren and his ilk have defined Christianity out of any true meaning or purpose. Their imaginative ‘cleverness’ have made them nothing more than willing dupes for the true religion of evolution, which is atheism. As such, atheists must be rubbing their hands with glee. If the world was to think that this is what Christianity means, then the church is on the fast track to nonexistence.

Christians should not be surprised that the Gospel will be rejected by many. There is no need to redefine it. Man’s nature is to be rebellious to His Creator and evolution provides a great excuse to ignore God. True Christians need to make a stand for the truth claims of Scripture and its big picture, which has been totally lost in this almost complete reinterpretation of the Gospel. We should take heed of the admonition of the Lord Jesus Christ (the Creator God revealed in the flesh) when He said:

“If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you” (John 15:19).

History shows us that appeasement has had little success when dealing with sin.

My Views about the end times

As Christians, looking to what is around us can be astounding to the fact that we are living in the end times of the second coming of Christ and do acknowledge that the second coming of Christ is getting nearer and closer than what was centuries before. Just look into 2012, and you’ll see many funny news happening in Singapore of these scandals of corruption, vice underage sex cases involving businessman, teachers or university lecturer, things like that, plus increasing numbers of Christian cults in Singapore targeting young people (mostly) to join their cult by telling them the doctrines that are far contradicting to mainstream Christianity. Though this might sounds disturbing, but it is indeed a real cases that all of us as Christians, we have to take notice for.

 

As I was reflecting about it, I’ve realized that the danger of Christian cults in Singapore is actually climbing up, especially in this year of 2012. To me, I see it as a sign of Christ second coming, and also a warning about the plot of spiritual attacks by the devil, plus this is not an minor issue, and moreover to God, he has a plan for his love to those who love him wholeheartedly. In the bible, it did mentioned not only Christ second coming, but warnings of the last days, where of rumors of Christ is here or claim himself to be Christ, as these deception of false prophets do draw people, including Christians further away from God. Though there is a section in the bible that also mentions about the warning of the end times, but also warns us about the Christian cults who masquerade as holy, and look very Christian, despite the actual fact that it is actually a cult that denies the rest and deceive others into it, which is dangerous in theologically that anyone who isn’t strong in the word and discern to God’s voice, might fall into it without knowing their main goal.

 

Though we are indeed living in the last days, but do not live idling at home doing nothing, but do what you are doing the status quo, because no one knows when Christ will come for the second time, and even if one manages to claim a particular date where the world will end, but the fact is, it is totally impossible because that how can one know when the world will end, despite most cases those who predicted the end of the world other than God himself didn’t came true, but only God know what will happen and when the second arrival of Jesus. All we do is not just only do the status quo, but having the heart of preparation in the last days that it is nothing good to be taken lightly to ignore the validity of the end times mentioned in the bible. And my views about the end times, or the last days, though we still have to go on as business as usual physically, but we must be spiritually and mentally prepared about the validity of the end times since about close to 11 years after Sept 11 attacks in 2001, many events happened in 2011 like Arab Spring, civil war in Libya of toppling Libya’s former dictator Muammar Gaddafi which is deceased since October 20, 2011.

 

Plus the events happened in 2012, about the natural disasters, intensified conflicts over disputed areas, and civil unrest in Syria. But in Singapore, many cases of corruption and scandals of fraud of organization funds and vice sex of various men who are either teacher, businessman, or even sex scandals of corruption for getting better grades, promotion of position, and a case of a female teacher was charged in court for having sex with a minor boy. Having seen all these  shocking and stunning to this country of Singapore who is well-known for one of the 4 least corruption countries of the world, and though as Singaporeans, we are proud to be in one of the world’s top 4 least corrupted countries, but no men is perfect and I believed that three years before the Jubilee of Singapore in 2015 (which this year is 2012), which I too believed that God has cleansing to do for Singapore, as not only to rise up Singapore as the Antioch of Asia, but also to prepare us not only just for the jubilee, but also preparing us for the second coming of Christ, where one day we will face to face with in heaven.

 

Finally, we all are to rise up and live up to glorify him in the last days, but never ever rest (as in idling in faith in God) in this time of uncertainty and many turbulence of signs of end times, as one final day where all men and women on this earth will be judged by God, and those who are faithful and truly love God, they shall join the wonderful presence with God in heaven, where the salvation of the redeemed ones will enjoy with the redeemer, Jesus Christ for eternity but those who chose to reject God and moves away from God and/or are not faithful to God wholeheartedly, which Jesus warns in the four gospels of the bible that God will spills out the lukewarm Christians by saying that to them ‘I do not know you, you evildoers!’ and to me, this is a warning to lukewarm Christians about the severity of being lukewarm, because to God, God wants a 100% faith, trust, and wholehearted submission to God, which I see it as God wanting us to be right close unto him, and calling us to fulfill his will and obey his commands as stewards of God’s redeemed people. And God will grants blessings to those whom trust and believe in him, and will not perish for eternity but will spend time enjoying with him in the presence of heaven for eternity. God walked with us in the form of flesh over 2,000 years ago, who name is Jesus, who died for all of us for our iniquities of sin, which came unto the world through Adam and Eve, as a divine exchange for all of us, just to redeem us from eternal death out of his unbound and unconditional love, and who else who are so great can compare with the unbound amount of the love of God? For God is so great that his love just touches and changes lives of many who once lived in guilt and in sin, which is why Christianity is not a religion to Christians, but as a relationship with God through the redeemer of the redeemed–Jesus Christ.

The Bible Verified by the Chinese Language

Powerpoint to understand what I’m talking about: Phil Chumbley – Chinese Character and the Bible

(extracted media from an external sources, see below for details)

Linguists agree that the Chinese language is the oldest, continuous, written, language in the world, dat-ing to at least 2,500 BC.

The inventor of this vernacular used pictures to express words or ideas.

He used combinations of simple pictures to illustrate a thought or a more complex word; for example, the picture of a mouth (a circle) over the drawing of two legs (which represents a person) means “older brother” or “oldest son,” indicating that the oldest son was usually the spokesperson or leader of a family or tribe. Furthermore…

The pictures he chose, logically, were symbols of history and common occurrences known to the people in order to help them remember their language. And so…

It’ll be shown in this study that he used religious thoughts and stories which were familiar to them.

It is very significant to note that the origin of the language happened long before Buddhism, Confucian-ism, and Toaism were found inChina. So what was the religious thinking or belief system of the Chi-nese people before these religions, before Buddha, Confucius, and Laotze?

As the language was being written down, there’s clear historical evidence that the Chinese believed in the one supreme God who made the world.

During the first three dynasties,Chinaworshipped only the one God known as ShangTi; this isn’t only recorded in historical records, but evidence can also clearly be seen in the way the pictures of this language were formed. So…

Was ShangTi the God of the Bible? Did the people who first lived inChinaknow the same stories of God, creation, and early man that are written in the Bible? Did they know the story of Adam and Eve, the garden, the fruit, the temptation, the first sin, the world-wide flood, the division of people at thetowerofBabel, and the concepts of atonement and sacrifice for sin? Well…

In this study I want to share with you why I firmly believe that the God of the Bible was also the God of the Chinese before at least 1,000 BC.

Many who live inChinatoday think of Bible stories as fables written by western writers.

They think of the Bible as an “English” book; however, the Bible wasn’t written in English, but in Hebrew and Greek, long before English became a language.

It’s writers didn’t live inEurope, but were from areas aroundEgyptand ancientBabylon. E.g….

Moses, who was an adopted son of the king ofEgypt, wrote the first five books of the Bible.

He wrote about the history of the world from its beginning up to his time in 1,400 BC.

Of course, in the latter part of that history, he focused on the beginning of the nation ofIsrael(the Jewish people), but the first 11 chapters of the Bible record history that ALL nations have in common.

In this lesson evidence is given that those who first formed this language knew the same stories that Moses wrote in the Bible. So…

Let’s begin by reading Genesis 11:1-9: “Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.  And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in thelandofShinar, and they dwelt there.  Then they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’  They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.  And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.’  But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.  And the Lord said, ‘Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.  Come, let Us go down and confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’  So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the earth, and they ceased building the city.  Therefore its name is called ‘Babel,’ because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.”

Moses described how, at one time, most (if not all) men lived in Mesopotamiaor Babylonor modern day Iraqand all spoke the same language. Notice the following in Chinese.

[These empty spaces are where I have the Chinese characters drawn on my hardcopy notes.]

Many scholars now believe that the Chinese people migrated from this area (Mesopotamia) to their present location. So…

Let’s notice these important points in the Bible story of Genesis 11.

Most nations would have, at one time, lived inBabylon.

The Chinese would have moved fromBabylon(which is “west” ofChina).

Since there was a “great division” of the people and their language, and since there was no modern transportation, they would have “walked” to their new home.

Notice these same three points in the Chinese character for “to move or migrate.”

Let’s read Genesis 2:7: “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

The Chinese word for “create” is made up of two words that translate “walking” and “talking,” but notice how the word for “talking” is made up of several words: the word for “breath” or “mouth,” the word for “living,” and the word for “dust.”

So the Chinese word for “create” was composed of “walking, talking, breathing, living man of dust.”

Now let’s notice further the Chinese word for “first.”

The Bible story describes the making of the first man, Adam, and the question becomes, “Is it a coincidence that the word which means ‘first’ in Chinese is made of the three words, ‘living,’ ‘dust,’ and ‘man’?”

So according to the Bible and according to the man who first wrote the Chinese language, the “first” man was a “man of dust.”

The Chinese word for “happiness,” if broken down into parts, points to “the first person in the garden” when God was in fellowship with him, in other words, when he was truly “happy.”

The Chinese word for “God” sometimes means to “reveal with authority,” and men were the happiest when they obeyed.

God placed this first man in a beautiful garden called “Eden,” and the Bible says that God placedEdenbetween theTigrisandEuphratesrivers; these two rivers empty into thePersian Gulffrom what is now modern dayIraq.  Now . . .

Did the people who moved toChinabefore 2,500 BC know about the first man inEden?  If so, they would have been able to tell their children that the first man, who lived in a wonderful garden, came from ‘west’ ofChina.

These same points make up the Chinese word for “west”: the words “first” and “man” and “garden” suggest the direction “west” in their language.

Let’s read Genesis 2:18-25: “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone: I will make him a helper com-parable to him.’  Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them.  And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.  So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field.  But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.  And the Lord God caused deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place.  Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.  And Adam said, ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called “woman,” because she was taken out of man.'”

We read in this story that God showed Adam all the animals, but he didn’t find one suited for him; in other words, Adam didn’t “desire” any of the animals for a mate, so for the man to be complete, it was “necessary” that God make a woman that he would “desire.”

The Chinese character for “want” or “necessary” is comprised of “woman” & “west.”

Besides, according to the Bible & Chinese, “in the beginning” there were “two people.”

Let’s read Genesis 2:8-9 and 16-17: “The Lord God planted a garden eastward inEden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.  And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.  The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and tree of knowledge of good and evil. . . .  And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.'”

God made all the trees, but there were “two” special trees in the middle of the garden, and we see that God gave His first “warning” by “forbidding” Adam to eat from one of the trees.

If they ate from the tree of knowledge, they would die or be separated from God and no longer have access to the tree of life.  Now . . .

Notice how that in Chinese the word for “warning” or “forbidden” is a mixture of the character for two trees and the character for “God reveals or commands.”

Let’s read Genesis 3:1-12: “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.  And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”  And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.”  Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You shall not surely die.  For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.  She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.  Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.  And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.  Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?’  So he said, ‘I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.’  And He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked?  Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?’  Then the man said, ‘The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.'”

When the woman saw the fruit, she “desired” or “lusted” it; it looked so beautiful and good to eat.

Notice that 4,500 years ago, the Chinese chose to place the word for “woman” underneath “two trees” to suggest the concept of lust or desire!

Notice also the relationship of the word for “devil” to this Bible story.

Notice furthermore the relationship of the word for “tempter” to this Bible story.

After the first couple had eaten the “fruit,” they realized for the first time that they were “naked,” so they made some clothes for themselves.  Notice, therefore, how the Chinese language combines the words for “man” and “clothing” with “fruit” to refer to nakedness.

Let’s read Genesis 3:17-19: “Then to Adam He said, ‘Because you have heeded the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, “You shall not eat of it,” cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.  Both thorns and thistles [weeds] it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.  In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.'”

Notice that the word for “pain” or “sorrow” in Chinese has “two trees” in it.

Notice once more that another word for “sorrow” or “bitterness” has “weeds” in it, along with the character for “ancient.”

Let’s read Genesis 4:1-15: “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, ‘I have acquired a man from the Lord.’  Then she bore again, this time his brother, Abel.  Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.  And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.  Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat.  And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but the Lord did not respect Cain and his offering.  And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.  So the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry?  And why has your countenance fallen?  If you do well, will you not be accepted?  And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door.  And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.’  Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.  Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel, your brother?’  He said, ‘I do not know.  Am I my brother’s keeper?’  And He said, ‘What have you done?  The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.  So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.  When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you.  A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.’  And Cain said to the Lord, ‘My punishment is greater than I can bear! . . .  It will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.’  And the Lord said to him, ‘Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.’  And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.”

Notice the similarity between the words for “eldest son” and for “cruel” or “violent.”

It’s practically impossible to see the character for “violent” and not notice that it’s the character for “eldest son” with a “mark” on top of it, reminding us of Cain.

One more: remember the story of Noah found in Genesis chapters 6—9?

When the Chinese want to describe a very large ship, the word for “boat” is combined with two other characters: the word for “eight” and the word for “person.”  Why?  Because the first ship (very large boat) known of in history was an “eight person boat.”

Since only the eight people in the boat survived, the total world population was eight, so notice the Chinese word for “total.”

Notice also that the word for “flood” combines the characters for “total” and “water.”

Now how did the Chinese, who are now Buddhists, know this story 4,500 years ago?  Since they migrated toChinaafter the scattering of the nations when their language was divided, they came from a people who knew the same stories.

All these stories we’ve studied were orally “handed down” or “continued” from generation to generation.  Incidentally, since these stories were handed down from the eight people who survived the flood, notice the Chinese character for “to hand down” or “continue.”

Well, this evidence, pointing to a time long before Buddhism and Taoism, shows that the Chinese people believed in the same God that we believe in, and so I hope this strengthens our faith in the Bible and motivates us to learn more about the Bible and God’s plan for our lives.

If you’re not righteous in God’s sight right now, you need to become righteous.  The Chinese language illustrates for us what it takes for one to become righteous.

Reminiscent of the story of Cain and Abel, it has always taken the blood of a lamb, killed by man himself, to justify man.

Jesus, killed by man, is man’s justification, the One who makes us righteous today.  So, for our last reference to the Chinese language, notice what makes up the Chinese character for “righteous.” 

[Most material adapted and revised by Tony Denton from C. H. Chang’s The Discovery of Genesis, 1/01.
Slightly revised again 10/06. ASiteForTheLord.com]

Contradictions of Chinese beliefs of Chinese traditions and ancient Chinese beliefs

I heard of this common thing among the Chinese—if you are a Chinese Christian, Chinese Jew, or a Chinese Muslim, you have betrayed your ancestor and your beliefs, well, I disprove of that as I will briefly explains why I think that this misconceptions from most Chinese people, and my own Chinese culture as being Chinese in ethnicity, but I’ll explain the misconception of Chinese and monotheism and ancient history from a Chinese point of view. As I remembered that previously, I did mention of one misconception of Singaporean on Judaism, Christianity and Islam, about the Chinese roots, as to further explain other than remembering our ancestors deep in our hearts, though are forbidden to have ancestral worship, but let me explain why I disagree to most Chinese, regarding betraying our own ancestry.

 

Many Chinese themselves do think, by converting your faith to Judaism, Christianity, or Islam, you have abandoned your ancestor, particularly converting to Christianity, but many have forgotten the ancient history of China before 7^th century BC, where the Chinese people were once monotheistic. And quite strikingly, every Chinese character we use today are actually pictograms, which means ancient Chinese characters, and when I looked at the ancient Chinese characters, and when I read the book of Genesis, particularly from Adam and Eve, till after the tower of Babel, there are a number of Chinese characters which strikingly describes of the account of Genesis, for example; 舟(boat)+八(eight)+口 (mouth/people)=船(eight people on a boat), for this word福, which many Chinese loved this word, because it means prosperity, but looking at this word, 福also means blessings if you notice the word carefully, it is understood to me as 礻(God)+ 一 (created man)+口 (Adam, the first man)+田(and the garden of Eden)=福(God blesses the earth as it was good).  Likewise, the tempter ‘魔’, it consist of these words, A garden, field or landed property “田”(tián） represents the Garden of Eden; a man “儿” shows the humanoid aspect of the devil, who spoke as a man to Eve, even though through the medium of a serpent; and the word secret, private “厶” conveys his clandestine approach to Eve. These three symbols, together with the “丿” indicating “alive,” are combined in the devil “鬼”(devil). But to be more specific, the devil “鬼”, radical is then placed under the cover “广” of protecting trees “林”(forest）. The devil “鬼” waited for Eve in the forbidden tree, which was located in the middle of the garden next to the tree of life-hence the two trees “林”. Furthermore, he was under “广” , being hidden in the tree and also camouflaged as a serpent. By uniting these primitive pictographs into an ideographic character, the word tempter”魔” appears to have been designed (sources: http://emilyycnusa.blogspot.sg/).

 

Lastly, to me, believing regardless whether you are a Chinese Jew, Chinese Christian, or Chinese Muslim on the account of creation, we are actually worshipping the similar God the ancient Chinese worship long before the 7^th century BC till the days of Adam and Eve, nor abandon my ancestral roots just because of the misconception from the west about the east where they refuse to acknowledge the singular God the ancient Chinese before 7^th Century BC were the God of the Hebrews worshipped in the 9^th century BC, plus the most fascinating fact is both the Jewish and Chinese history have a striking similar length of 4500 years of history, and few of the oldest surviving civilization of the world’s history. To round it up all, before you jump to conclusions, look into the facts of history, before you response, because the fact is, both Jews and the Chinese have a striking similar span of history of 4500 years of cultural existence.

What if God did not scatter men all over the face of the earth?

Genesis 11: 1-9

1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.

2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.

4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.

6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.

9 That is why it was called Babel —because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

The above scripture tells us about why God scatters men all over the face of the earth, as mentioned in verse 4 about the evil intentions of mankind of getting together not for God but for themselves, by building the tower of babel, though they have only one culture and one tongue, chances are they will stay united and go against God, though in the new testament, God has later restored to us of staying in unity for Christ, but in the days of Genesis, the people back then are getting united together for the wrong intentions instead for God, and remember that was the post-flood period, and also much after Adam and Eve fall into sin. From this scripture, I’m slowly broaden your mind of God’s intention of scattering mankind into various cultures and speaking many different languages, by giving you a scenario of how the world will be like if there is only one culture and one language.

The question is what if the tower of Babel was completed and God did not scatter man throughout the face of the earth, and this is the issue I’m going to briefly explain what would be the consequences of this, and why God feels that man rejected him, despite his love for all man, woman and all living things on earth of which he had created. This is a question of controversy, what would happen to all the cultures on this earth around us if the tower of Babel was completed and mankind are still speaking one language and have only one culture.

If the tower of Babel were completed, and God did not scatter mankind throughout the face of the earth by confusing their tongues which causes man to don’t understand each other, Roman Empire wouldn’t exist, nor all the notable rise and fall of civilization of the world will even exist—practically because if the world have only one culture and one language, then there will not be such things like rise and fall of civilization. There will be one nation of the earth without the name of a nation—except under the name called earth, which I would feel absurd about it because that would mean the devil is able to defeat God through by deceiving mankind, which would be disastrous to God, which is why I understand that there is a purpose why God disperse mankind to the face of the earth in Genesis 11.

Personally, if you misunderstood this assumption of alternate history for parallel universe, including my previous topic about ‘What if Rome never fell?’, my response is, this is just a sharing of thoughts of the logical sense of history in our own textbooks, and the reason of a fall of a civilization which leads the rise of a succeeding civilization succeeds the preceding one. To me, I’m very skeptic about parallel universe, though to me it is just a science fiction like Fringe, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc… but there is such people which I don’t understand why they believe in science fiction, which is why there is such a cult named Scientology, a science-fiction cult founded by L Ron Hubbard (which by now he is deceased now).

Back to Genesis 11, if God did not scatter all mankind at that time, the world few surviving and oldest civilization, the Chinese, Hebrews (Jews), Greeks, Indians, Persia wouldn’t be in the location they are in today and perhaps ended up in Mesopotamia, which is why there is such historical record of many civilizations of having the similar Genesis accounts (which I will later mention about ancient China shangdi, the supreme God which the Hebrews and us also worship.) to explains the evidence of ancient culture of the Genesis account and Noah’s flood period.

What if Rome did not fall?

Reading on the history books about the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, stretches right from its beginning as a Roman Republic in 510BC, till Rome became an empire in 27BC. Though its legacy has indeed impacted the whole of the western world, though right at the same year in 27BC, on the Far East, there was a dynasty ruled by the Western Han dynasty in ancient China (though both the Chinese and the Jews have striking similar length of history for 4500 years.), and before I were to mention about the topic, let me illustrate to you about the impact of the world if Rome did not fall in 476AD followed by the demise of the Roman Empire of the fall of Constantinople in 1453AD by Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. Long before the final demise of the Roman Empire in 1453AD, and fall of Rome, the mother of the Roman Empire and the former capital of the Western Roman Empire, Rome was once the most advance in terms of architecture, technological, economic, military, philosophical (after ancient Greece),Culture and Social achievements.

 

Spanning for about 600 years of Roman history, on the Far East side of the world, there were several dynasty changes in China, like in 476AD, the year when Rome fell, on the Far East, there was a dynasty in ancient China, the Northern Wei dynasty. On the other hand, while Roman Empire was on its decline and eventual demise of the Roman culture and collapse of a once mighty ancient superpower of its time, the Far East of Asia, seems to be enduring even until today, which is why Chinese alongside with the Jews and Greeks, are among the few oldest civilization of the world we know today. To mention about the possibility of how the world will be like if Rome had not decline and eventual sack of Rome in 476AD and its demise in 1453AD, the world we lived to day would be not only a very different world, but a total bizarre world, where the technology would be about 800 years forward in time, and the advancement of technology would not be in the 18^th century but in the 13^th century AD, and likelihood by the 21^st century most of us will be able to migrate anytime to the moon or mars as colonist if the Roman Empire still persist in its existence, but the most impact to the world will be that there will be far lesser Muslim nations we know today.

 

If Rome did not fell, Albania, Algeria , Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Libya, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Portugal, Palestinian Territories, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, Ukraine wouldn’t exist on the world map but under an entity of ‘SPQR’ (senatvs popvlvsqve romanvs), which many countries including the middle east, wouldn’t exist and also remain as Christian empire (since Emperor Constantine eventually convert the empire from Roman paganism to Christianity after his conversion to Christianity in 326AD. United States wouldn’t even exist at all, and might be possible another Roman colony, if they continue to expand from the greatest extent of the Roman Empire in the region of the known world at their time.

 

It would be a huge impact that Rome didn’t fell, but one advantage that if Rome did not fell, there won’t be dark ages in western Europe, Islamic caliphate would kept at bay of the Arabian peninsula, Jews still forbidden to return to Jerusalem, and ultimately, instead of many European languages we see today, all of us would be using Latin as a global language instead of English as the global language. Though Latin is now a dead language, but its legacy has passed on to many European languages we used today. Likewise, if Rome did not fall on 476AD and the demise of the Roman Empire in 1453AD, the world we live today not only a total different world, as if we are living in a Naboo-style world of the Star Wars science fiction, and not only that, the world will ended up two super powers—the Romans and the Chinese; one on the western side of the world, and the other on the far eastern side of the world. Gladly, Rome did actually fell in 476AD, and the demise of the Roman Empire after the fall of Constantinople in 1453AD, which the fall of one advance civilization of the ancient world till late antiquity, and till the end of the late medieval ages, gives way to many new civilizations and cultures which leads to the countries we see today.

 

Likewise as mentioned earlier, if Rome did not fall, we would be 800 years in advance in terms of technological, architecture and military advances, but dark ages of the western world gives way for the Far East to advance further in time, which also eventually the sharing of technology from the Far East, notably the invention of gunpowder originally invented by the Chinese in the 9^th century AD, during the Tang Dynasty era, including the introduction of the Indian numerals to the Arab Muslim world in the 10^th century AD, despite during the centuries of the dark ages of western Europe at that time. That is why if Rome did not fell, the technological shared throughout the world will be phenomenal huge that one advancement in technology as huge as a century length, would shorten to just a decade if Rome did not fell, understanding the rapid advancement of ancient Roman technology rate if it continue its existence till modern present day.

 

And if Rome did not fell, Jews will not even exist on the face of this planet, due to the anti-Semitism even after Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, centuries after the sack of Jerusalem and the expulsion of the Jews in 70AD, which in time, many population of Jews might ended assimilated to the local culture population, which is why practically without the fall of the mighty ancient Roman Empire, certainly state of Israel wouldn’t even exist, and many countries within the region certainly will not even exist, nor the two world wars, napoleon wars even existed, and the world might be a peaceful place to live, due to the dominance of the Romans if the Roman Empire continue to exist and persist in time till modern present day. But fact are always fact, the Roman Empire has long gone, replaced by other civilizations, which gave rise of the further spreading of Christianity even to the Vikings and Germanic people whom the ancient Romans called them as the barbarians of their time. Ultimately, after the demise and diminished culture and identity of being Roman, what has survived are not only the historical documental records, architecture, technology but also ultimately the dead language we known today—Latin, being the root of being civilized and also the base of many European languages that we are still using today, despite changes and addition of alphabetical words—the Latin alphabets.

History of Jerusalem: Timeline

 

Click on this picture for a larger view~

Megachurch or Minichurch? Keys to Church Growth

Taken from: http://www.febc.edu.sg/assets/weekly2012/weekly-volix-no26.htm

There are quite a number of sizable churches today, and they are called megachurches. Many of them are in USA, Nigeria, and Korea. The largest megachurch in the world is Yoido Full Gospel Church of Paul Cho Yonggi in Korea (230000). The largest church in Nigeria is Deeper Christian Life Ministry. In the USA, it is Lakewood Church pastored by Joel Osteen. In Singapore, we have four well-known megachurches—City Harvest, New Creation, Lighthouse Evangelism, and Faith Community Baptist Church.

 

Pastors from minichurches might envy such megachurches. Some might be tempted to copy the methods of these megachurches in hope of turning their minichurch into a megachurch, using worldly and carnal methods to attract people to church.

 

In doing God’s work, size really does not matter. Whether big or small, what is important is faithfulness to God and His Word. Having a megachurch is no indication of God’s approval. Today, there are many false Christs and false prophets who start false churches with a false gospel. Jesus warned in Matthew 24:24, “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” What will be the end of such false people? Jesus also said, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matt 7:23-24).

 

If we do not want to end up judged and condemned, then we must make sure we are true disciples and true servants of the Lord Jesus Christ indeed. We want to see God’s Church grow of course, and God’s Kingdom spread far and wide, but surely this must happen not at the expense of truth but on the basis of truth. We want to see the Church grow in God’s way so that He might be glorified.

 

So, how to grow the Church God’s way? We learn it from the Acts of the Apostles. The Rev Dr Timothy Tow—wrote a commentary on Acts entitled, Pattern for Church Growth and Missions, and said that the Acts of the Apostles are an infallible pattern for us today in growing the Church. This is because the Apostles of Jesus Christ were infallible in their preaching (1 Thess 2:13), in their writing of the Holy Scriptures (2 Pet 3:16), and in the administration of the Church (2 Thess 3:6-9).

 

Thus, from the Book of Acts, we find that for the Church to grow in a way that is pleasing to God, we must understand these three important principles:

 

(1)  Church Growth Comes by the Power of Christ and His Spirit (Acts 1:8, Matt 28:18)

 

It must be emphasised that the work of growing the Church is a spiritual work. As such, it is not something that can be achieved through human reasoning or strength, but divine wisdom and power. That is why Jesus in His Great Commission spoke of the power that propels missions and evangelism(Matt 28:18). Jesus has been given all power in heaven and in earth and with this power He commissions His Church to go into all the world to extend His Kingdom with His Gospel (Matt 28:19), and He promises His Church His presence until the end of the age (Matt 28:20).

 

The first church in Jerusalem experienced the power of the Holy Spirit which Jesus promised He would give once He ascended to heaven (Acts 1:4, 5, 8). This happened on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and they spoke in tongues (foreign languages). This was done so that the people who came from different parts of the Roman world with their own respective languages or dialects could hear and understand the Gospel. After the Gospel was preached, the Holy Spirit convicted and converted the hearts of the people and 3000 got saved (Acts 2:41), and subsequently many more got saved and joined the membership of the growing Church (Acts 2:47).

 

The gift of tongues is no longer given to the Church today (1 Cor 13:10). What we see today in the Charismatic churches are not tongues but gibberish which brings confusion and chaos, not spiritual edification and growth. Although the gift of tongues is no longer given, the preaching of the Word in the various languages of the world remains. The Gospel has been translated into over 2000 languages and is going out into all the world. The power of the Spirit continues to work through the preaching of the Gospel and it continues to convict and convert sinners today (John 6:7-8, 1 Cor 1:17-21).

 

We see this power in the days of the Asian Awakening when God used Dr John Sung to preach the gospel and teach the Bible, to rebuke sin and call both unbelievers and nominal believers to repent of their sins. Hundreds of thousands in China and Southeast Asia were soundly converted and revived.

 

(2)  Church Growth Comes by the Preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:21-24, 29-32, 37-38)

 

The Church in the first century steadily grew in numbers and spiritual maturity. This is achieved purely through the preaching of the Gospel (not through philosophy, psychology, oratory, entertainment, money, business tactics or marketing strategies).

 

What is the Gospel you might ask? The answer is clearly given by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4—it is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ according to the Scriptures. Never forget to preach the resurrection of Christ! If you will study every sermon preached by the Apostles in the Book of Acts, you will not fail to find that every sermon mentions the resurrection of Christ. No resurrection, no truth. No resurrection, no gospel. No resurrection, no salvation. The power of the gospel lies in the resurrection of Christ. That was why Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”(Rom 1:16).

 

Today, we see these megachurches boasting many members, but how many of their members are truly born again? What is the Gospel preached in these churches? Is it a gospel of works (Roman Catholic Church and the many cults)? Is it a gospel of health and wealth (Charismatic churches)? Is it a gospel without Jesus being fully God (Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormonism)? Is it a gospel of bread and butter (social gospel of the Liberals)? Is it a gospel of armed revolution (ie liberation theology)? All these gospels will not and cannot save.

 

The Gospel that saves must be the Gospel of repentance. The Apostle Peter preached, “Repent and be baptised everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). The Apostle Paul made it very clear what saves, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Rom 10:9).

 

(3)  Church Growth Comes by the Separation of the Church from the World unto Christ (Acts 17:16-31, 19:17-41)

 

The Church can only grow in a spiritually healthy way if it keeps itself pure and clean from the influences of worldly religion, philosophy and culture. The Church must not become idolatrous and immoral. In Acts 17:16-31, Paul makes a sharp distinction between the gods of this world and the only living and true God who is Creator and invisible. But this invisible Creator-God became visible and Saviour. He is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ who died for our sins and rose from the dead. There is only one God, one Saviour, one Gospel, one Way (John 14:6, 1 Tim 2:5). That was why the Apostle Paul said to the Corinthian church, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (1 Cor 2:1-5).

 

God requires His Church to be separate and not syncretistic if it is to be powerful and effective for His glory and service. The Ephesian church made a great impact in the world by separating itself from idolatry and witchcraft. The believers once converted, put away all their heathen gods and practices. The Apostle Paul commanded in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

 

By way of illustration, a lighthouse is only good and useful if it stands alone and away from tall trees or buildings so that its powerful beacon can shine forth its light without hindrance and obstruction, and all can see clearly the way to safety. This was the testimony of the Bible-Presbyterian Church in Singapore founded by the Rev Dr Timothy Tow. In  Growing Churches Singapore Style, Keith Hinton wrote, “…in 1950, Timothy Tow, influenced by the International Council of Christian Churches (ICCC), broke from the Presbyterian Church to form the new and rapidly growing Bible denomination … Dean Kelley, in his research on American churches, also discovered that churches which are clear in their beliefs, strict in their membership requirements, rather isolationist and actively evangelistic, grew much faster than those with a social message, ecumenical associations and easy membership terms.”

 

The doctrine of separation is a doctrine of Church purification and preservation. Once a church rejects this doctrine, it will become totally defenceless and vulnerable to all kinds of false teachings and heresies that will kill it; like a person infected with HIV/AIDS, it will not survive.

 

Conclusion

How to grow the Church God’s way? The answer is simple: Grow the Church by the power of the Holy Spirit, preaching the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, and obeying the Father’s command to be separate from all worldliness and falsehood.

 

Let us not envy the megachurches because it is not size that determines whether a pastor or a church is successful or not. Success is determined by one’s faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ and to His forever infallible and inerrant Words in Holy Scripture. The Lord Jesus at the end of His life and ministry had no more than 500 followers, but His Father in heaven commended Him nonetheless, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt 17:5).

 

God must get all the glory. “So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.” (1 Cor 3:7). JK