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Testimony (9)

James 5:13.
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

Phil 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Suffering and pain are part and parcel of life. Yet each time we face severe trials, we are lost for words as to what to pray for deliverance. We thank God that His Spirit does help us in our weakness when we do not really know what to pray, He intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words. Rom 8:26-27.

A few years ago, my family and I went for a winter holiday overseas. My eldest son suffers from severe eczema since birth. Arriving at the destination in freezing temperature, his skin started cracking and he was in severe pain. When I was applying the moisturizing cream on his whole body, I saw the extent of his suffering – almost 90% of his body skin was terribly inflamed. I cried and I pleaded with God to heal him.

I have received miraculous healing from God before, praise the Lord, for an excruciating pain beyond medical help, but seeing the severe pain of my son was more than any pain I could bear. The groaning in my heart was so loud and I thanked the Lord’s Spirit for pleading on my behalf.

All praise and thanks to God who answered my prayer in one of my weakest moments in life !

My son’s skin condition improved so dramatically the next day that he could enjoy the whole holiday without any pain.

Over the next 6 months, 80% of skin on his whole body healed. Ever since, his skin condition is in check.

Last year, I saw a sister in her forties with similar eczema condition. I asked if she would like me to pray for her. I asked her if God would heal her for even one day, would she accept ? She related that she suffered this condition only 13 years ago. She never had a day going without itch and inflammation on her whole body. Her hands were really bad.

All praise and thanks to God again for hearing my prayer. Her skin condition improved dramatically over the next 2 weeks. Her face was clear of inflammation and her hands improved so much.

But recently, I saw her again and her severe condition returned. I prayed for her again. (At the point of writing this testimony, I do not know of her present condition.)

Anyone who suffers severe eczema will understand that even regular vigorous treatment can only stabilize the condition but improvement is never so quick and drastic. We can be sure of the miraculous healing hand of God in these two instances.

All honor and glory to God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

Heavy Responsibility Of Overseers In The Last Days

Acts 20:28-31

28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.
31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

We are now seeing false teachers arise from among us speaking twisted things and luring so many away. And they also export their twisted teaching worldwide.

Yet some leading overseers in this part of the world even call these people as one of us and standing with them. They are not alert. They have failed to care for the flock of Jesus our Lord which He had obtained by His blood. I pray that these leaders will wake up for because of their respectable standing in Christendom, the flock is not aware of the danger and will follow their decision of affirming the false teachers. Not only have they failed the flock but more importantly their dear Lord whom they claim to serve.

Why did Paul admonish for 3 years with tears ? Because it concerns eternal life and death of those disciples who are lured away ! A true faithful servant will not see fellow servants die a second death. So all the more, the overseers must pay close attention to protect the flock from the wolves, the false teachers.

By speaking against cautious and faithful overseers, who contend against false teaching, on the pretext of unity and peace, the detractors are guilty of trivializing this exhortation of the Word of God in Acts 20:28-31 and participating in their wicked works by affirming them. 2 John 1:10-11.

The Prosperity Gospel Is Soberly Called A False Gospel

The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization (Cape Town, 16-25 October 2010) brought together 4,200 evangelical leaders from 198 countries, and extended to hundreds of thousands more, participating in meetings around the world, and online. Its goal? To bring a fresh challenge to the global Church to bear witness to Jesus Christ and all his teaching – in every nation, in every sphere of society, and in the realm of ideas. The Cape Town Commitment is the fruit of this endeavour.

Part IIE Paragraph 5 says this :

The prosperity gospel offers no lasting solution to poverty, and can deflect people from the true message and means of eternal salvation. For these reasons it can be soberly described as a false gospel. We therefore reject the excesses of prosperity teaching as incompatible with balanced biblical Christianity.

Do we accept the testimony of hundreds of thousand evangelical leaders from 198 countries whom all conclude the prosperity gospel is soberly described as a false gospel ?

I do.

(The blessing given to the Commitment by the late Dr John Stott is good enough for me. He had chaired the Lausanne Theology Working Group and succeeded by capable saints as well in Lindsay Brown, former General Secretary of IFES, and Chris Wright, International Director of Langham Partnership.)

And if anyone proliferates a false gospel, he or she is not on the same road with me. I will have nothing to do with him or her except to pray for his or her repentance and repudiation of the false gospel. By affirming him or her as one of us or in any other way, we are deemed to participate in his or her wicked works according to 2 John 1:10-11.

http://www.lausanne.org/content/ctc/ctcommitment

The “Wonderful” Promises Of Hyper Grace Doctrine

We want grace that soothes but not truth that hurts;

we want Christ’s miracles and glory but not His suffering; (1 Pet 4:13; 2 Tim 2:3; Matt 10:22)

we want instant fruit of His Spirit but not training and discipline; (Titus 2:11-12; Heb 12:3-11)

we want more prosperity but not godliness with contentment. (1 Tim 6:6-10)

And hyper grace promises all that…but that leads to another gospel and another Jesus.

When one preaches grace at the expense of truth, he preaches another Jesus. For Jesus is FULL of grace and truth. John 1:14.

A Project Of Love

Myanmar is at the dawn of a new era of change and progress. It is all God’s timing and sovereignty. May God bless this nation !

Thanks be to God that JC’s Manifesto can be a channel of blessings through Brother SJ Long to Myo Myanmar Youth Development Centre in Taikgyi Township, Yangon, an orphanage under the pastoral care of Pastor Arnold.

All thanks and glory to our Lord Jesus Christ.

National Convention Of The National Auxiliary Chaplaincy Of Philippines (NACPHIL)

5th November 2015

All thanks and glory to God for allowing me to be a partner of this God-fearing chaplaincy to fulfill God’s given commission to strengthen a godly Filipino society with good governance through a righteous leadership.

I am so thrilled and filled with joy that the chaplaincy has prayed and acted to get an executive order to allow them to share the Good News to the whole nation – not only to all levels of government but also to schools, hospitals and other institutions.

This is a most wonderful acknowledgement that believing in Jesus Christ as one’s personal Savior and Lord is the only way to transformed godly lives.

Felt so blessed to receive the letter of recognition from all my beloved bishops and comrades in Christ.

All glory and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ ! All praises to His holy name !

On Extraordinary Divine Guidance

There are times, though we know clearly the teaching of the Word of God, we are still unable to discern whether we are right or wrong about our response towards a particular issue.

As we seek God for wisdom in the first instance, we will not be disappointed. He had promised in James 1:5 that He will give generously without reproach.

Once, my wife was particularly disturbed about the long corporate prayer in church and had this feeling that the person who prayed was not really sincere in her prayer and deliberately prayed long prayers to impress the congregation. I did not want to make any similar judgment immediately. Firstly, I might err in having a critical spirit on such an important worship as corporate prayer. Secondly, I might hurt my wife by disagreeing straightaway if it turned out it was really so. In Matt 6:5, our Lord did mention that there could be hypocrisy in prayer by loving to stand and pray in synagogues to be seen by others.

I prayed on a Saturday as we would be hearing this long corporate prayer during worship service the next day. I wanted to know if my wife could really discern the hypocrisy or we were overly critical. After finishing my prayer, I turned on the TV. I saw Mr Ron Atkinson (aka Mr Bean) in front of the computer typing this question : “What is the difference between praying in the church and praying in a casino ?” The reply came back from the computer : “In the casino you really mean it.”

I believed it was surely God’s reply to my prayer. I could very well turn on the TV a few seconds late and this scene would be over. The timing could not be more perfect to give me the answer.

Here is another episode of how God answered my prayer with such unique circumstances.

I was disturbed by the malice of the lay leader and his wife, who was a choir leader, against some brothers in church a decade ago. I had no choice but to bring up to higher leadership in the denominational church. As I was about to meet the leadership over this matter, I prayed the day before whether I should simply ignore the whole matter or should I stand on justice.

I could not sleep whole night thinking about how the discussion would go. Would the leadership try to cover up as it would be embarrassing for the church ? Would I be portrayed as a troublemaker ? Did I err in suspecting them of malice ?

At 3 am which I should be sleeping, I turned on the TV and switched to the Crime and Investigation channel. An episode of the Top 10 Crimes – the BTK Killings – was about to start.

What a surprise ! I hardly watch crime stuff. This crime was about a serial killer who was the president of the church council of a Lutheran church and his wife was the choir leader. What a coincidence. The crime came to be known as BTK as the serial killer, Dennis Rader, described how he bound (B), tortured (T) and killed (K) his victims deliberately challenging the police. He went into hiatus when his children were born and he was really a good father. He was only caught later in his 70s when he felt he would not have the strength to commit another crime later. The court granted his wife immediate divorce upon conviction to protect her from possible mental health problem. He was a good husband, good father and a good church leader all this while. Unbelievable !

But I got my answer to my prayer – human hearts are deceptively wicked – and I was right about the malice of the lay leader and his wife. In my discussion with the higher leadership, I told them to read up the BTK killing crime. Later the lay leader and his wife left the denominational church when their malicious acts were exposed.

If I did not turn on the TV at the right time, I would not have watched this similar crime episode.

Surely these are not coincidences. These are God’s specific answers to my prayers. Praise the Lord for His divine guidance always.

Safer To Rejoice In The Salvation By The Grace Of God

Luke 10:17-20

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

When the 72 disciples returned, they were elated that they had authority over the power of the enemy. I believe our Lord warned them instead that pride was the reason Satan fell from heaven. In Matt 7:22-23, we were reminded that even with such power and authority, our Lord may not know us.

It is, therefore, safer to rejoice in the salvation by the grace of God which was exhorted by our Lord.

In my faith journey so far, I have experienced miracles, visions, acts of providence and divine guidance by the grace of God. And I know how easy I can get conceited just like St Paul who was given a thorn in the flesh to humble him. Now in my second decade in evangelistic missions, thanks be to God for His grace is truly sufficient for me and I am actually more glad to share of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ can rest fully in me.

By the grace of God, I have learned how to live in joy in the salvation so graciously given us and to walk as our Lord has walked by the gracious guidance of His Spirit.

I can’t say it better than 2 Pet 1:3-11 (NLT).

3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But those who fail to develop in this way are short-sighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.
10 So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. 11 Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Christ Jesus, Our Good Shepherd

John 10:11
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Psalms 23
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

How we see God will determine how we respond to His love. If we see Him as a harsh judge, we are likely to see all trials in life as punishment and alienate Him. But if we see Him as a Good Shepherd, we will see all trials as His discipline for our own good and we will seek Him first and dwell in His loving care always.

When we walk through the many valleys of danger and hardship including the shadow of death in life, He does not promise to remove us from it. Instead, He will be with us in going through. His rod – the Word of God – will correct, reprove and train us to stay in line in the path of righteousness. And His staff – His Holy Spirit – will convict and guide us back always into His care and protection.

Like a Good Shepherd, He will look for a good Table-land (plateau) with good grass, close up all the danger snake holes and ward off predators (enemies) before shepherding His sheep to the Table-land (plateau).

Like a Good Shepherd, He will anoint our heads with oil – His Spirit – to soothe our souls from all kinds of anxieties (flies that constantly annoy us the sheep).

As long as we are obedient to be led by His Spirit, surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives.

And we will see Him soon and dwell with Him forever !

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord forever and ever !

My Open Letter To My Comrades In Christ

(In partnership with Dr Kecha Seyie, President of Nagaland Christian Revival Theological Association, JC’s Manifesto Ministries was able to send over 200 solar lamps to the border villages of Nepal giving the missionaries a bridge to reach into the villages in Nepal to share the gospel both in word and in deed. Due to the tense political situation between India and Nepal, the missionaries congregated in a local Nepalese church for a seminar. The following letter allowed me to be there in the spirit to share a word of encouragement to fellow comrades in the field.)

To fellow pastors and saints in Christ in Nagaland and Nepal,

My fellow comrades in the field,

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God for the excellent report of your tremendous love for our Lord Jesus in carrying out His given commission in Nagaland and in Nepal. Nagaland is completely won for Christ. Hallelujah ! Though Nepal is a stronghold of the enemy, we give thanks to God that so much is done to win souls there.

Whenever our Lord went in His ministry, not only He shared the Good News but also He did so much good works in casting out demons and healing the sick. And His disciples were also obedient in doing the same as we read in Mark 6:12-13.

Without doubt, we are called to stimulate each other to love and good works, not neglecting to meet often and all the more as we see the Day drawing near.

I give thanks to God for allowing me to be a vessel in partnering you in sharing the gospel both in word as well as in deed.

God has enabled many Christian ministries to be established to meet such needs as orphanage, medical clinics, bible schools and social enterprises. As for me, God has guided me to establish a platform in JC’s Manifesto Ministries to meet basic needs such as providing light through solar lamps, clean water through biosand water filters and basic food staple through basic farm equipment.

Please feel free to check out my web blog www.jcmanifesto.org where I shared the various ministries I am working on, some important teachings to fend against the rampant false teaching and my faith journey.

If God so wills that such evangelistic outreach programs be done in India and Nepal, He will provide as we seek His will.

I look forward to going to the harvest field with you one day if God so wills.

Right now, I would like to share an important message.

Our Lord specifically told us that before He returns, hard times will come. There will be spiritual deception, calamities and persecution of unprecedented scale as He warned us in Luke 21:7-19.

We are told to observe the times and to be prepared and pray to escape the times as in Luke 21:28-36.

God has graciously given me visions to make me better understand the judgment of Babylon in Rev 18. In Rev 18, God revealed He will destroy all the wealth in one hour. All the kings of the earth, merchants and those who make their living by the sea will weep at the demise of Babylon. This is unmistakably the present global capitalistic system of governments, multinational companies and supporting small and medium enterprises and the global seaports cum financial centres like Singapore, New York, Hongkong and Shanghai.

Today, the other 2 aspects of the Babylonian system, the religious and political systems, have also reared their heads. The different faiths are close to form one world religion. Same sex marriage have been legalized in many countries already which openly oppose God’s laws in an unprecedented and blatant way.

The financial system today will collapse very soon. The stock markets around the world has collapsed in September this year wiping out USD 11 trillion already which is so much larger than the loss of USD 2.5 trillion in the aftermath of the US subprime loan crisis in September 2008. The sovereign debt of all major economies has gone off the point of no return and is beyond even service of interest payment.

God’s people are told to rejoice at God’s judgment in Rev 18:20. So if we are vigilant, we have nothing to fear. As long as we seek His righteousness first and come out of Babylon, we will not face the plagues of mourning, famine and death.

God is not telling us to quit all commercial activity. On the contrary, we are to warn the idle among us. All the more we should be hardworking and to provide the relief for those who are suffering from famine.

The book of Acts in chapter 11:27-30 gave us a good example. The prophet Agabus predicted a global famine and the Antioch church started saving the relief and later provided it to the Judea church through Paul and Barnabas.

Let’s stay watchful and prepare as exhorted in 1 Thess 5.

Encourage one another and build up one another.

Warn the idle. Encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with one another.

Rejoice always and pray without ceasing so that we do not lose hope.

Do not despise prophecy but test everything carefully.

The church must start to save and prepare for this day. Like in the days of Joseph in Egypt, Joseph saved the grain during the 7 years of bountiful harvest in anticipation of the 7 years of famine. Command the rich in the church to be generous in good works as exhorted in 1 Tim 6:17-19.

When trouble comes, there will be many falling away due to lack of root but there is also a great harvest at the same time. Many will seek God when they realize how helpless and mortal they are. Let’s all of us pray to be the vessel in bringing in this great harvest.

As for personal physical preparation, seek wisdom from God as He will gives it generously to those who ask. Noah, when being warned of the impending judgment, with reverent fear built an ark to save his family. Pray for God’s wisdom to build this “ark”.

Let me end this letter with this exhortation from Zeph 2:3

Seek the Lord, All you humble of the earth Who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden In the day of the Lord’s anger.

Your brother and comrade in Christ,

Pastor Anthony Ho

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