Gospel, theology and story

Category: Gospel, theology and story

Watchman Nee’s influence on me

1 February 2025 blogpastor Leave a comment

I have been influenced early in my Christian life by spiritual giants from China and India. These were Watchman Nee, John Sung, Pastor Hsi from China, Sadhu Sundar Singh, Bakht Singh and Zac Poonen from India.

I would think the books of Watchman Nee have influenced me the most since he has written scores of books about spirituality. His influence on me can be seen in my posture reflected in my book, “The 26 Gifts of Christ’s Finished Work”. I hope this book will be published by the end of February. Here are some quotes about Christ’s finished work from a few of Watchman Nee’s well-known books:

From his classic book “The Normal Christian Life”:

“God makes it quite clear in his word that he has done all that is necessary on his side. Now he is waiting for us to take an attitude that will bring us into the experience of what he has done.”

“The normal Christian life must begin with a very definite ‘knowing’, which is not just knowing something about the truth nor understanding some important doctrine. It is not intellectual knowledge at all, but an opening of the eyes of the heart to see what we have in Christ.”

“Our old history ends with the Cross; our new history begins with the resurrection.”

“The blood can wash away my sins, but it cannot wash away my ‘old man’. It needs the cross to crucify me. The sinner needs forgiveness, but the sinner also needs to be delivered from the power of sin.”

“Outside of Christ, I am only a sinner, but in Christ, I am saved. Outside of Christ, I am empty; in Christ, I am full. Outside of Christ, I am weak; in Christ, I am strong. Outside of Christ, I cannot; in Christ, I am more than able. Outside of Christ, I have been defeated; in Christ, I am already victorious.”

From his classic book “Sit, Walk, Stand”:

“Christian life does not begin with walking; it begins with sitting. We begin our spiritual life by resting in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Christian era began with the ascension of the Lord Jesus, not with his crucifixion. He sat down at the right hand of the Father, and that is where we begin – we are seated with him in the heavenly places.”

“If we merely try to imitate Christ’s life, we will be exhausted. The secret of the Christian life is not imitation but participation. Christ has already done everything; we simply step into the reality of what he has accomplished.”

From the less-read work “The Spiritual Man”:

“The Christian life is not about trying to live for God but allowing Christ to live through us. It is not self-effort, but Christ’s power working in us.”

“Many try to crucify themselves, but we cannot crucify ourselves. God has already crucified us with Christ; we must simply reckon it so.”

From his book, “The Overcoming Life”:

“Victory is not something we work for; it is something we receive. It is not our victory – it is Christ’s victory, which he has freely given to us.”

“To overcome means to rest in Christ’s victory, to reckon upon what he has done, and to allow him to live out his overcoming life in us.”

Pastor Rony Tan: Evangelist Extraordinaire

18 October 2024 blogpastor Leave a comment

Pastor Rony Tan went home to his Lord and Master on the 16^th of September 2024, aged 79 years old. He passed away peacefully after suffering from sciatic nerve pain for two years and a recently discovered complicated tumour. For the joy of meeting his Master, whom he served faithfully, he endured the pain and suffering. His longing to be with his Lord for eternity is fulfilled. His passing is a great loss to his family, the Lighthouse Evangelism church family, and the whole church of Singapore, but there is much comfort to be derived from reflecting and celebrating a life well lived from start to finish.

Greatly gifted

Pastor Rony Tan is a man greatly graced and gifted by God. He was saved by grace. He was healed and called to his mission by grace. He was a faithful pastor, a passionate evangelist, and an effective channel of God’s healing power. I dare say that he is the greatest evangelist that Singapore has ever witnessed. Over four decades of healing evangelism, his effectiveness is cumulatively greater than any other foreign evangelist invited to our shores, including Billy Graham, Luis Palau and Reinhard Bonnke. The number of healings that have been witnessed during his miracle services and rallies in Singapore are greater in number and quality than the many other healing ministers that have preached in our country, including Reinhard Bonnke, Carlos Annacondia, Roy Durham, Benny Hinn, Randy Clark and Daniel Kolenda. I state all this in worldly terms of comparison, to debunk our tendency to admire the “foreign talent” and to forget our local “prophets”. Let us appreciate what God has gifted Singapore with and be thankful.

What a life and ministry!

I watched the online memorial service and I was moved listening to his daughter Tracy’s eulogy. She shared personal and intimate snippets of her father Rony, which otherwise would never have been known as widely. I felt inspired and gratified that we finally have an authentic testimony of a megachurch pastor who lives out his faith- a godly pastor and evangelist, a loving husband, and a wise and nurturing father. After all the unsavoury news about the fails and falls of megachurch pastors, I am pleased that we have someone here who lived with considerable congruence between what he preached and practised.

Pastor Pacer’s eulogy was less intimate but more instructive and insightful. Many pastors and evangelists would benefit from noting the ingredients of effectiveness and longevity in the ministry. I particularly resonated with his point that his father was very focused and highly disciplined. This would have been something we who do not know him would not have known. I recalled a conversation when I joined Lighthouse Evangelism in one of their Miracle Crusades in Bangkok. Pastor Rony was hospitable and invited my wife and me to his table during lunch. He was relaxed, approachable and friendly. I remembered one thing about that conversation. He mentioned how as the church grew larger and larger, some of the long-time members of the church pined for the early days when the church was smaller. Pastor Rony would be more readily available to be with them, having fellowship over durians. He said, “Who wouldn’t want to have durians and chat with them? I would love to. But now I have to take responsibility for the miracle service every Saturday. I needed to spend much time in prayer and message preparation. I have to pay the price.” I never forgot that conversation. The son’s eulogy triggered my memory of that conversation.

Though Pastor Rony made himself available to the needy masses on Saturdays and Sundays to minister to the unsaved and saved, he was willing to minister to individuals. We had a precious girl of about seven who suffered from an aggressive cancer and I inquired if Pastor Rony could pray for her personally. I was thankful he made time to minister to her on a weekday afternoon in the Tampines office.

Humble and wise

Pastor Rony was a high-profile pastor of a megachurch and this visibility gave rise to a problem. Someone complained to the government authorities about a sensitive comment about a certain practice of another religion in a sermon he preached. Officials spoke with him. It was a critique of idol worship that many pastors would have thought about and even mentioned it. Even the prophet Isaiah mocked the idolatry of Baal. In Pastor Rony’s apology, I saw his humility and reconciling spirit. It was not a compromise as some would have thought. It was wise to contextualise the gospel to society without giving up the freedom of declaring the good news of Jesus Christ. Read more about this HERE.

End of an era?

I wonder if we are witnessing the end of an era. Will we ever see such an outstanding healing evangelist raised in our midst? Or is the era of mass rallies in urban centres a methodology that has passed its expiry date? What do you think? Use the comment box.

If you have personal stories or snippets about Pastor Rony and his ministry that you wish to share with our online readers, please write in the comment box below the title.

“Coincidences are natural phenomena”

2 September 2024 blogpastor 2 Comments

I have taken the liberty to post a comment from “Gary” here. He had posted it somewhere else, where not many people would see it. So I post here his argument against the existence of God. He states that coincidences are usually natural phenomena, not interventions of God in answer to prayer or the providence of God. He then mentions some of the answers that evangelicals typically give. He numbered them (1) to (5). These are answers I would possibly give too. If you wish to elaborate, explain, or add to the reasons for your hope in Christ, please drop a comment to help “Gary”.

This is what “Gary” wrote in the comment page:

“A primitive farmer in a primitive land suffers two consecutive bad harvests. The following spring, he
sacrifices a chicken to the rain god hoping to change his fortunes. That year, the rain fall is steady and just right: not too much and not too little. His crops grow tall and strong. He has an excellent harvest. “The rain god answered my prayers because I offered a chicken sacrifice to him,” the farmer says to
himself. For the next four years the farmer offers a chicken sacrifice and each year the rain fall is just right and his harvests are green and bountiful. His life changes dramatically. He is incredibly happy. Once angry and short-tempered, he is now kind and generous. He experiences incredible peace and a profound sense of security knowing that he has pleased his god and is now reaping the benefits of his god’s good favor.

Question: Do you believe that the chicken sacrifices had anything to do with this man’s five consecutive good harvests and his change in character and demeanor? Of course you don’t. The five consecutive good harvests were simply a rare but very natural phenomenon. Statistical variation perfectly explains this man’s good fortune.

As an evangelical Christian, you believe that a spirit lives inside you; a spirit who has unlimited knowledge and powers; a spirit who answers your prayer requests and performs miracles for
you. However, if you can’t see, hear, or touch this spirit how do you know this spirit is really there? How do you know that your perception of a spirit dwelling within you is not just your mind playing tricks on you? I have asked many evangelical apologists this question and the response I usually receive involves one or more of these statements:

1.) My personal experiences prove His presence: Unusual events have occurred in my life which I am certain were due to the intervention of Jesus/the Holy Ghost.

2.) Answered prayers: I ask Jesus/the Holy Ghost for something and the requested action or event occurs. This has occurred multiple times in my life. They cannot all be coincidences or
statistical random chance.

3.) Dramatic change in my life: Since becoming a Christian, my life has changed dramatically. I am a new person. I left behind (drugs, alcohol, crime, etc.) and have become a good, loving, upstanding person.

4.) Incredible feelings of peace, comfort, and happiness: Since I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and asked him into my heart I have experienced the most incredible joy, peace, and
sense of security, knowing that He is always with me, guiding me in every step
of my life.

Question: How are your perceived experiences with your spirit (Jesus/the Holy Ghost) any different than the perceived experiences of our primitive farmer with his spirit (the god of rain)? There is no difference, my evangelical Christian friend! All your perceived answered prayers and perceived miracles
have involved natural events. Some of them may have been very rare natural events, but they were still natural. None of you has witnessed Jesus/the Holy Ghost move a mountain or even levitate your kitchen table after requesting that action in your prayers. Those types of answered prayers never occur, do they? Answered prayers always involve events which could have a natural explanation, even if a very, very rare natural explanation.

A fifth reason I sometimes hear is this: 5.) The Bible tells me that Jesus/the Holy Ghost dwells within me and the Bible has proven itself to be true and trustworthy.

Question: Would you accept such “evidence” from any non-Christian on the planet touting the veracity of his religion’s holy book? Of course you wouldn’t. You and your fellow Christians may believe that the Bible is reliable but most of the world’s population disagrees with you. Jewish Bible scholars reject Christian claims that Jesus fulfilled OT prophecy. Jews, Muslims, and non-supernaturalists (agnostics and atheists) reject as insufficient and weak apologists’ evidence for the alleged resurrection of Jesus. The authorship and eyewitness status of the Gospels, the best evidence Christianity possesses, is disputed, even among Christian scholars, for goodness sakes! So appealing to the Bible as proof of the
existence of a spirit living inside your body is a real stretch, friends.

Final question. Dear Evangelical Christian: Are you being rational in your belief that a spirit dwells within
you? Or, are you being as irrational as our primitive farmer, who experiences statistical anomalies and attributes them to the actions of his culture’s gods and devils? Invisible spirits and ghosts are not
real. There is no good evidence they exist. Step out of the darkness of superstition and into the light of reason and rational thinking.”

I would appreciate any response from readers to “Gary” that will help him see the hope we have in Christ. “Gary’s” worldview is rationalistic-scientific which is understandable because we are all children of modernity. Such a worldview leaves no room for miracles and divine intervention – even if there are no natural phenomena to explain them, like the healing of a person born blind, or the miracle of a deaf man enabled to hear after being prayed for.

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