A Month of National Holidays

In his Grace@Work Commentary GRACEWORKS MAIL 31/10 August 6, 2010 Edition.
(A ministry of Graceworks: www.graceworks.com.sg) Rev Dr Tan Soo Inn writes about National Day Celebration in August. For Singapore, their National Day is on 9 August and for Malaysia it is on 31 August. I like what he writes about the needed pro-active role of the Singaporean and Malaysian churches.

The church represents the Kingdom of God in society. In the words of Newbigin, the church must function as the "hermeneutic (interpret, unfold the significance . . . ) of the gospel." (The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, 222 ff) Newbigin also suggests six characteristics that will mark church communities that are trying to flesh out the gospel for society. (The Gospel in a Pluralist Society, 227 - 233)

1. It will be a community of praise.
" The Christian congregation . . . is a place where people find their true freedom, their true dignity, and their true equality in reverence to One who is worthy of all the praise we can offer." (228)

2. It will be a community of truth.
"A Christian congregation is a community in which through the constant remembering and rehearsing of the true story of human nature and destiny, an attitude of healthy scepticism can be sustained, a scepticism which enables one to take part in the life of society without being bemused and deluded by its own beliefs about itself. " (229)

3. It will be a community that does not live for itself but is deeply involved in the concerns of its neighbourhood.
" . . . the local congregation (must be) perceived in its own neighbourhood as the place from which good news overflows in good action . . ." (229)

4. It will be a community where men and women are prepared for and sustained in the exercise of the priesthood in the world.
"It is in the context of secular affairs that the mighty power released into the world through the work of Christ is to be manifested. . . . (The validity of our preaching) carry weight only when they are validated by the way in which Christians are actually behaving and using their influence in public life." (230)

5. It will be a community of mutual responsibility.
"If the Church is to be effective in advocating and achieving a new social order in the nation, it must itself be a new social order." (231)

6. It will be a community of hope.
" . . . the gospel offers an understanding of the human situation which makes it possible to be filled with a hope which is both eager and patient even in the most hopeless situations." (232)

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Newbigin is an importance influence in my own thinking about the church and I am glad that Soo Inn brought him into the discussion about the hermeneutic role of the churches in Singapore and Malaysia.

Influence of Globalisation on Spiritual Formation

The Influence of Globalisation on Christian Spiritual Formation in Churches in Malaysia and Singapore

The technological advances in telecommunication and the Internet have shrunk the world into a global village. Malaysia and Singapore are actively involved in the globalisation process and its subset glocalisation. While there is no agreed definition of globalisation, it is often understood to have the following characteristics: increasing speed in communication, the interconnected world become smaller, the blurring of national borders, reciprocity, manageable risk, and presence of trust. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the influence of globalisation on Christian spiritual formation in the churches in Malaysia and Singapore, and suggest some possible measures for these churches to enhance the positive effects while limiting the negative ones.

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more of my articles on Glocalisation and Spiritual Formation

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Kong Hee on Church Growth

From The Christian Post

Tuesday, Sep. 8, 2009 Posted: 1:54:46AM HKT

In the comparatively short span of two decades, City Harvest Church has become the largest congregation in Singapore.

And yet, for many pastors and believers, the phenomenal growth of the church is at best a mystery or a feat of which only a few are capable.

At worst, it is a tell-tale ‘sign’ of the shallowness of faith and lack of discipleship of the members.

For The Rev Dr Kong Hee, who founded CHC, the growth was unexpected.

Two themes emerged in the course of the email interview he graciously accepted from The Christian Post.

It was primarily the clear vision of God’s passion and calling to the believers and the relentless obedience of the small group of individuals that pioneered the church that enabled CHC to succeed in its outreach.

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Books on the Overseas Chinese

Picked up these books from Borders, Singapore last Friday.

(2007) published by Centre for Malaysian Chinese Studies, Kuala Lumpur

(2008) published by World Scientific, Singapore

Looking forward to reading them.
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Religious Diversity in Singapore

Lai Ah Eng (ed),2008, Religious Diversity in Singapore, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asia Studies

This book collects together 34 contributors to 28 chapters highlighting the incredible religious collage that Singaporeans experience. It also highlights what is needed for a multi-cultural, multi-religious society to survive - tolerance and dialogue. While each contributor writes from his or her own religious tradition, there is a sense that these authors are careful in what they write in order not to offend practitioners of other tradition.

Being a sociological thesis, its emphasis is more on a nation living in harmony than in religious spiritualities. I like the title of one of the chapters, "Keeping God in Place: The Management of Religion in Singapore" which speaks volumes for the context of the rest of the book.

On the whole, its almost 600 pages is worth reading for the religious diversities and hopes of the various traditions.

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Random Musings on Chicago Hawaii 2008 Trip (2)

The Great Singapore Lineup




Last Thursday, we reached Changi Airport in Singapore at 4am in Terminal 3. We were on our way to Chicago, flying United Airlines.

The rows and rows of trolleys caught my eyes. Only in Singapore will even the trolleys be arranged in regimental orders as if for a frontal assault. There is obviously much time, effort, and pride involved in arranging these trolleys. The Singaporeans are a disciplined and hardworking people. Statistics shows that by the next decade the percentage of Christians in the population may reach 20%. I cannot wait to see how God will use them.

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Medical and Dental Missionaries from Singapore

This is a collections of testimonies of Christian doctors and dental officers who became missionaries by using their medical and dental training. Like all such books , the testimonies are heart-warming as we read of God's great work in the mission fields. We also read about their struggles, pains, sufferings, loneliness and sacrifices. What makes this book unique is that they are all Singaporean doctors!

This book was published last month (2007) by Medical Missions Foundation, Singapore. This is a new trust foundation set up to raise money for medical missionary work.