For the greater part of my life ever since I was sunday school student in an AOG church back in the sixties and later in the Ceylon Pentecostal church I was always accustomed to listen to sermons on the comming of the Lord and how important it was for us to get prepared for the rapture so as to escape the tribulation that was soon to come. I believe this was the belief of the early church followers as well, and the soon coming of the Lord proved to be the catalyst that drove the early church to spread the gospel with an urgency. Jesus too warns us in Mathew 24: 37-39 that the tribulation period was going to come and overtake the world like the floods that came during the time of Noah. Jesus then gives us a picture of the rapture in Mathew 24:40-42 about two people being in the field and at the mill and one will be taken and the other left. This tells us that the rapture which Paul again mentions in I Thessalonians 4:16-18 will be for a select few and its a prelude to the tribulation. Hence I believe as the early church fathers believed that Jesus is coming soon to take away his bride the church before the tribulation .
Jesus will make his presence known to the world during the tribulation when he comes and destroys the anti christ and his armies and sets up the millenium Kingdom for a thousand years.
It his during the millenial reign of Christ that the prophecies of the old testament prophets will come true who spoke about Jesus coming to sit on the throne of David and reign from Jerusalem
The book of Revelation 20:4-6 tells us that Jesus will come again to the earth together with the saints who were raptured and rule the earth for a thousand years. It will an unprecedented era like never before, where peace and righteouness reigns and and the lion and the lamb dwell together, it will be a reflection of the garden of Eden. I am looking forward to escape the tribulation and meet Jesus in the clouds and return back as a VIP to take my place in the
parliament of the millenium where Jesus will be the Prime Minister and me maybe the minister of Home affairs and I will make sure there wont be any ISA.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
What is the Universal Church and How Should The Church Reflect her Unity To The World
In The Christian context the word Catholic refers to the Universal Church Of Christ.The Universal Church according to what I understand refers to the body of Christ and all who are born again and have come into a relationship with Christ. Unity in the body of Christ at this moment is invisible. On a visible level we have the various denominations and their different doctrinal beliefs.
If I am to answer the question 'how does the church reflect her unity to the world ?. I would say it is only possible as a conciliar form of unity because the doctrinal stand of many churches are too diverse and sometimes too heretical for them to come together into an organic form of unity. The World Council Of Churches is trying to cement an organic form of church unity and without much success. They began as conciliar and I believe they should stick to this.
A conciliar form of unity is when churches of various denominations come together irrespective of their doctrinal beliefs into a council or an organizational alliance so as to be a more effective force in evangelism. They band together into a 'council which is the root word for conciliar and thereby work together for the common good of each other. In coming together into such a unity the identity of each denomination is retained and there wont be any compromises in doctrine.
I believe if the church is to realize the end time prophecy of Jesus as recorded in Mathew 24:14 'that this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world before the end come'. , then the only best solution is a conciliar form of church unity.The organic form of unity is not feasible, no not until Jesus comes, as there are too many differences among the various church groups and denominations for it to work successfully. If denominations do not come together and practice a conciliar form of unity say in a particular field of missionary activity and if each of them does things independantly then you might have as the saying goes 'too many cooks spoiling the soup'. You might have the AOG doing their thing,the Baptist another thing ,the Lutherans anything ,and maybe the FGA something.There might be a duplication of efforts that sap the resouces of the Kingdom Of God and waste valuable time and effort. Added to this our disunity will confuse the new converts to Christ.
In 1989 ,I witnessed such a conciliar form of church unity ,when various denominational church groups rallied together to organize one of the most successful evangelism rallys ,Malaysia had ever witnessed till then. It happened at Merdeka Stadium when the German evangelist Reinhard Bonkerr held a series of healing crusades that saw hundreds or even thousands give their lives to Christ and many more recieved healing.
The conciliar form of church unity is still the best bet until our Lord Jesus comes and unites the body of Christ and does away with all the differences that divides the visible body of Christ.
If I am to answer the question 'how does the church reflect her unity to the world ?. I would say it is only possible as a conciliar form of unity because the doctrinal stand of many churches are too diverse and sometimes too heretical for them to come together into an organic form of unity. The World Council Of Churches is trying to cement an organic form of church unity and without much success. They began as conciliar and I believe they should stick to this.
A conciliar form of unity is when churches of various denominations come together irrespective of their doctrinal beliefs into a council or an organizational alliance so as to be a more effective force in evangelism. They band together into a 'council which is the root word for conciliar and thereby work together for the common good of each other. In coming together into such a unity the identity of each denomination is retained and there wont be any compromises in doctrine.
I believe if the church is to realize the end time prophecy of Jesus as recorded in Mathew 24:14 'that this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world before the end come'. , then the only best solution is a conciliar form of church unity.The organic form of unity is not feasible, no not until Jesus comes, as there are too many differences among the various church groups and denominations for it to work successfully. If denominations do not come together and practice a conciliar form of unity say in a particular field of missionary activity and if each of them does things independantly then you might have as the saying goes 'too many cooks spoiling the soup'. You might have the AOG doing their thing,the Baptist another thing ,the Lutherans anything ,and maybe the FGA something.There might be a duplication of efforts that sap the resouces of the Kingdom Of God and waste valuable time and effort. Added to this our disunity will confuse the new converts to Christ.
In 1989 ,I witnessed such a conciliar form of church unity ,when various denominational church groups rallied together to organize one of the most successful evangelism rallys ,Malaysia had ever witnessed till then. It happened at Merdeka Stadium when the German evangelist Reinhard Bonkerr held a series of healing crusades that saw hundreds or even thousands give their lives to Christ and many more recieved healing.
The conciliar form of church unity is still the best bet until our Lord Jesus comes and unites the body of Christ and does away with all the differences that divides the visible body of Christ.
Monday, September 15, 2008
What is The Rightful Form Of Church Government
DEMOCRACY
In order for us to answer this Question we need to first identify where does authority reside within the Church. When we look at the early Church that began on the day of Pentecost and subsequently as the Church began to be established we see the appointment of Bipshops and Deacons as mentioned in Titus 1:5-7. The supreme authority that oversaw the whole Church establishment and affairs were the Apostles or the Elders at the Jerusalem Council that came together to decide on Matters pertaining to contravesies in doctrine and disputes that arose within the Church as mentioned in ACTS 15:1-29.
The Bishop or his representative which in the early Church meant the deacon usually consulted the local congregation in regards to their wishes and wants and sometimes permitted them a considerable amount of initiative in matters relating to the Church. Should there be disputes and matters that required further clarification then it was reported back to the Apostles.
We see here a Representative form of Government just like a Democracy where everyone reports to one another and each member can still exercise their rights and Privileges even as God has given each of us a free will to excercise our rights according to the word of God.
The problem I see in some Churches is when the Leader tells the congregation his /her plans and then finishes off by saying God has told me or I heard from God and when some member voice out their views we are told not to stand against the plan of God. This effectively kills off all valid Questions and the members rights are curtailed and I believe dictatorialism makes its presence in the church and Democracy takes a back seat.
In order for us to answer this Question we need to first identify where does authority reside within the Church. When we look at the early Church that began on the day of Pentecost and subsequently as the Church began to be established we see the appointment of Bipshops and Deacons as mentioned in Titus 1:5-7. The supreme authority that oversaw the whole Church establishment and affairs were the Apostles or the Elders at the Jerusalem Council that came together to decide on Matters pertaining to contravesies in doctrine and disputes that arose within the Church as mentioned in ACTS 15:1-29.
The Bishop or his representative which in the early Church meant the deacon usually consulted the local congregation in regards to their wishes and wants and sometimes permitted them a considerable amount of initiative in matters relating to the Church. Should there be disputes and matters that required further clarification then it was reported back to the Apostles.
We see here a Representative form of Government just like a Democracy where everyone reports to one another and each member can still exercise their rights and Privileges even as God has given each of us a free will to excercise our rights according to the word of God.
The problem I see in some Churches is when the Leader tells the congregation his /her plans and then finishes off by saying God has told me or I heard from God and when some member voice out their views we are told not to stand against the plan of God. This effectively kills off all valid Questions and the members rights are curtailed and I believe dictatorialism makes its presence in the church and Democracy takes a back seat.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Church and Last Things
What is the bibilic understanding of the Church
According to the bible which we know as the word of God the Church is a body of believers whohave opened the door of their heartsand allowed Jesus to come in,to begin a relationship with him ( I Corinthians 12:12-14) and ( Rev.3:20). Though we are many members but we are one body the church which in Greek denotes a called out group.
I.TEMPLE OF GOD
Now to relate the Church as the temple of God we need to understand the concept of the temple in the light of the Old Testament scriptures. In the Old Testament temple we know that God was present beyond the veil in the Holy of Holies as the Shekinah Glory.
By the death of Jesus on the cross we know that the veil was torn from top to bottom and access has now been granted for the presence of God to now dwell in human hearts.
Hence the scriptures substantiates this in I Cor.3:16 " know you not that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells within you.
Therefore the church is made up of living temples indwellt by the Holy Spirit of God.
According to the bible which we know as the word of God the Church is a body of believers whohave opened the door of their heartsand allowed Jesus to come in,to begin a relationship with him ( I Corinthians 12:12-14) and ( Rev.3:20). Though we are many members but we are one body the church which in Greek denotes a called out group.
I.TEMPLE OF GOD
Now to relate the Church as the temple of God we need to understand the concept of the temple in the light of the Old Testament scriptures. In the Old Testament temple we know that God was present beyond the veil in the Holy of Holies as the Shekinah Glory.
By the death of Jesus on the cross we know that the veil was torn from top to bottom and access has now been granted for the presence of God to now dwell in human hearts.
Hence the scriptures substantiates this in I Cor.3:16 " know you not that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells within you.
Therefore the church is made up of living temples indwellt by the Holy Spirit of God.
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