November, 2015 | JC’S MANIFESTO

2015 November

Five Fold Ministry

This concept is popularized by most charismatic churches today. What is of contention with other non charismatic churches is the belief of the continuation of the office of apostles and prophets.

I believe the contention is due to the failure of both camps to see that there is a primary and a secondary sense of these offices. I have drawn up a table to illustrate what I believe and actually experienced.

The mention of these five fold ministry comes from Eph 4:11-12.
Eph 4:11-12
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.

Prior to these verses we read in Eph 2:20-21 that the church was built on the foundation of apostles and prophets with Jesus our Lord being the chief cornerstone. It is clear the divine revelation of the prophets and the apostles is complete in the OT and NT as canonized in the Holy Bible. The Bible is the complete foundation on which nothing more need to be built further. Rev 22:18,19. So in the primary sense, the offices of the apostles and prophets have ceased.

But in the secondary sense, we continue to see the continuation of these offices in recent times like the ministry of David Livingstone and Hudson Taylor. Allow me a little foolishness to say that I had this experience in the lesser sense as shared in my book.
Because of the warning of the presence of many false prophets in the last days and the clear evidence of their existence today, we tend to despise all prophecy instead of obeying Scripture to test each and every prophecy.

If the office of apostle in the secondary sense is still continuing, the good reputation of the office is definitely not helped but made worse by those who carry it like a superior title or badge of authority. Matt 23:8-12. We have seen mega-church pastors calling themselves as apostles carrying the title more as a big title and position of authority. How specific are their missions as compared to that of David Livingstone or Hudson Taylor ?

http://www.christianheroes.com/ch/missionaries.html

Great men of faith grew spiritually like Paul who started his ministry defending his apostleship, then called himself the least of all saints later in his ministry and finally called himself the chief of all sinners at the end. And these self styled apostles today cannot even boast of any of the weakness that Paul had boasted. On the contrary, they have all the lavish lifestyle of tycoons. But such abuses should not cloud out the many missionaries and prophets in the lesser sense who are continually obeying God in strengthening, encouraging and comforting the church.

The Gift Of Tongues

I have reason to believe that the tongues spoken at Pentecost were intelligible languages and those mentioned in 1 Cor 14 seemed to describe some fervently ecstatic and sincere utterances not necessarily intelligible to listeners or even the speakers themselves and require interpretation.

As shown from the chart, if we lump all the conflicting evidence to form a single opinion or belief, either extreme of cessation of tongues and the continuation of this gift is questionable.

Could it be the former had ceased while the latter gift continued ?

I had first hand experience of my loved one with the latter gift of tongues in praying for a sick person once and convicting him to believe in our Lord Jesus. It seemed to be one off and she did not have that gift anymore so far. I believe it was a desperate and sincere utterance due to lack of words to pray sincerely for the sick. The sick person was so cut to the heart that he wanted to be baptized immediately and did that later in the day. And he went to the Lord a few days later. Would I doubt that the Holy Spirit was present to convict the sick man to have faith ? If it was so, what to make of the utterance of my loved one ?

(Martin Luther, the champion of sola scriptura, said this, “The signs here spoken of (Mark 16:17-18) are to be used according to need. When the need arises, and the gospel is hard pressed, then we must definitely do these signs, before we allow the gospel to be maligned and knocked down.” – Believer’s Bible Commentary.)

(Information gleaned from Spiritual Maturity by J Oswald Sanders)

Dialogue Between Christ Jesus Our Lord And A Cheap Grace Teacher

Christ Jesus : “Watch out ! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in abundance of possessions.” Luke 12:15.

Cheap grace teacher : “No. Abundant life in Christ is an abundance of every good thing in life !”

Christ Jesus : “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes…You want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don’t be concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you.” ” Luke 12:23-24. John 6:26-27 NLT.

Cheap grace teacher : “No. What the Body of Christ needs most is food first and not holiness for holiness will follow after you have food. It is the duty of Christ, the Good Shepherd, to give you food and rest first as promised in Psalms 23.”

Christ Jesus : “The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.” Matt 13:20-21 NLT.

Cheap grace teacher : “No. Persecution and trouble will not happen to Christians for God will protect them. Persecution talked about by Christ referred only to the Jews during His time.”

Christ Jesus : “The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced…(God will) cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit.” Matt 13:22-23; John 15:2 NLT.

Cheap grace teacher : “No. God wants to prosper Christians and He will empower them to get wealth.”

Christ Jesus : “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that Day will not come on you suddenly like a trap.” Luke 21:34-35

Cheap grace teacher : “No. Christians are called to enjoy wealth, to enjoy health and to enjoy a life of victory.”

Postscript :

The false cheap grace teachers are deceptive in twisting the intent of Scripture for their own purpose in all their sermons with a corrupted replacement theology –

preaching that the blessings for Jews in the Old Testament are blessings for Christians today as well, but warning concerning hardship and persecution for Christians in the last days in the New Testament only concern the Jews in the early years of Christianity.

USD 11 Trillion Wiped Out In Markets Globally In Late Aug And Sep 2015

Yes, something did happen in the global financial system in September 2015.

USD 11 trillion was wiped out in markets globally in late Aug and Sep 2015. Global trade has gone down by 8.4% which is unprecedented and global GDP has shrunk by 3.4% so far this year according to HSBC.

The figures are saying the global recession is under way. We read of imploding hedge funds, bond default of commodity and energy companies, imploding large retailers, the economic hardship of emerging economies due to appreciating US dollar, missing profit projection of global companies and their subsequent retrenchment between 10 to 20% of their workforce, the new recession under way in Japan and the tremendous economic hardship faced by several European countries right now with no relief in sight.

Yet it seems that there is a calm before the storm.

Is God being patient again waiting for His people to come out of Babylon ?

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/yes-this-is-a-financial-crisis-11-trillion-dollars-in-stock-market-wealth-was-wiped-out-in-the-3rd-quarter

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 !

Month: November 2015