Session 10: The Perfect Finale to Asia Conference

SINGAPORE, 23 NOVEMBER 2008 — IT HAS BEEN five Spirit-drenched, Bible-filled, tear-soaked days at the Asia Conference. Delegates from 72 countries have been immersed in a concentrate of Bible teaching, impartation and faith to carry the key message in their hearts, as they go out to put what they have learned into practice.

Kong Hee had taught that God redeems everything — even manmade pagan items — for His glory. Ulf Ekman had emphasized that the Holy Spirit is the one who does the work and we must walk so intimately with Him before that power can work in us. Phil Pringle illustrated how we are to bring the resurrection power of Christ into whatever dead situations we find ourselves in, to rattle the dry bones back into what that body is meant to be by speaking into our apparently dead situations.

The finale to the Asia Conference was spectacular — not so much in the way that the opening night of parades and pomp had been, but in that there was a spirit of great unity in Expo Hall 8, with hearts and heads sharing the same understanding and faith for the Cultural Mandate. That collective consensus that all 20,000 delegates (25,000 on peak nights) had that we are, as Christians, called not to isolate ourselves from the world, but to insulate ourselves then penetrate the world.

The evening began with a loud praise and worship by the CHC Band — surely every delegate will go home with “Ele-elevate Your name high” playing over and over again in their heads! — followed by a marvellous testimony by three members of City Harvest Church whose cell group growth exemplified how CHC’s caring system works. What a single girl did to reach out and show care and concern for another girl led ultimately to nearly 200 people who came to Christ and are all entrenched in cell groups now, sharing their care and concern with others.

It was a celebrity-filled night, with Taiwan singer-actor Liu Geng Hong (Slam Dunk) sharing his testimony of how he got saved in New Life Church in Taipei, and how he began getting his celebrity friends saved. To date, he has brought over 100 friends to church, and is now leading a group of famous young singers, including songwriter and guitarist, Wing. Geng Hong shared about how he got his celebrity friends together — including Jay Chou — to sing on a CD album that the church produced. With this CD, this group of Christian celebrities did tours in schools, reaching over 100,000 young people with their songs of hope and message of love. Geng Hong was joined by seven of his cell group members on stage as they sang ‘Seed of Hope’, the theme song of their album.

The crowd were bowled over when Singapore-born Taiwan-based superstar JJ Lin stepped on stage in a dapper yellow shirt and a fedora. “Praise the Lord! Jesus loves you!” he said, by way of greeting the rapt audience and singing his R&B hits.

JJ shared his testimony of getting saved at the age of 15, but when he became a singer in Taiwan, he felt very alone. By God’s grace, he found a great group of friends — Geng Hong and gang. Geng Hong invited him to sing on a “demo” — which was Sun’s song. JJ became part of their circle, and received help and counseling from Sun Ho and Rev Abraham Ku of New Life Church.

Kong asked JJ how he, as a Christian celebrity, shines for God. “I include God in what I share,” said JJ. “I thank God in my songs. Every idea comes from Him.”

When JJ had left, Kong took the opportunity to make a salient point. “If we are not in a position to influence culture, the non-Christians will set the agenda. Of course you don’t say Jesus outright in your songs — that would make you a Gospel singer, not a pop singer. But to be like JJ and put God in your songs without mentioning ‘God’ takes skill.”

Following the celebrity segment, the audience watched a moving video about CHC’s work in supporting Frank Godberg’s Bethel Mission Church in Kola Gold Fields, India, which runs an orphanage and computer centre for abandoned and unwanted children. One of the orphans, Benjamin Selveratnam, who is now grown up gave a touching testimony of how Sun Ho’s simple donation of 10 computers to the centre impacted the town. “It may not seem much, 10 computers, but Sun drastically changed our town of 100,000 people.” For the first time, he says, the children of Kola Gold Fields have a hope and a future.

On that note of bearing lasting fruit for God, Dr AR Bernard took the stage as the closing speaker of Asia Conference.

The Wheat and the Weeds

Drawing from the parable of the weeds among the wheat (Matthew 13:24-30), Dr Bernard explained that the farmer is Jesus, and He plants good seed, which are the children of God, in a field, which is the world, or the kosmos.God plants people in the culture, as seeds. God wants what we grow into to impact the culture.

Although the enemy plants weeds among the wheat, Jesus is not afraid of leaving us in the world, because He has put the power in us to insulate us from the world. And ultimately, Jesus will send His angels to remove everything that offends Him (Matt 13:39-40).

Dr Bernard explained that relationship precedes ministry — without a relationship, we cannot speak into someone’s life. He explained how the church has so far failed to do what Jesus sent us to do — to go into the world and be the salt and light. Instead, when a celebrity gets saved, and comes to church, the church becomes judgmental of them, and expects them to grow up overnight. Even celebrities need to go through discipleship — get them insulated, get them to practise spiritual disciplines constantly.

Smart Soul-Winning

We must have a strategy to win souls for Christ. Dr Bernard’s son, Jamal Bernard took the stage to share how he strategized to reach out to the prisoners in Guatemala. Another church group had gone up two weeks before and preached fire and brimstone. The inmates threatened that if they came back they might be leaving in bodybags.

Jamal and his teen group went in, and instead of preaching Jesus right off the bat, they took time to understand the prison culture. Jamal bonded with the “boss” of one of the prison gangs over a Snoop Doggy Dogg song. He talked to one man who had tattooed his gang number on his face — tattoos were often of dead gang members or homeys (friends) who had “died in honor”. Jamal showed his tattoo to the man, and explained that Jesus was his homey, and Jesus died for him.

The inmates had been rejected before by the church, but Jamal’s creative testimony and culturally-appropriate language won them over.

When OT Meet NT… Transformation!

Dr Bernard ended his message with a startling revelation. In the Old Testament, the language was a theology of place — it had to do with land and location. In the New Testament, there was no more conversation about place, but Jesus had encounters with persons, so the language was a theology of person. The church understands the Theology of Person to have replaced the Theology of Place.

But Dr Bernard points out that, just as Jesus called Zaccheus by name and gave him value, and Jesus changed a Person. Zaccheus responded by restoring money to the people, and by so doing the Place was changed. “The Theology of Place and the Theology of Person come together to affect transformation.”

When we change a person and that person gets God on the inside of him, he changes the place he is in, and that place transforms the culture. The Kingdom of God is within us — and every place God puts a believer will not be the same again.

As Dr Bernard’s message transformed the minds of all present this final night, Kong closed the entire Conference with a beautiful prayer.

“I pray the church of Asia is a church God knows: it is righteous and holy, faithful and true. Christ is revealed, because we have penetrated.”

With that the CHC Band led the audience in a joyful party time of praise and dancing as pyrotechnics and thousands of balloons signaled the close of what was for many, a life-changing first Asia Conference.

PHOTOS: Daniel Poh

The Search for Mr and Miss Asia Conference

SINGAPORE, 23 NOVEMBER 2008 — THE MOST BEAUTIFUL young people in City Harvest Church strutted their stuff on the runway at Asia Conference’s Manhunt and Beauty Pageant this Sunday night.

The event was a star-studded affair, with the likes of celebrity doctor Dr Georgia Lee and former Manhunt winner and host Benedict Goh judging the event, alongside Miss Taiwan 2000, Vivi Wang, who presented the prizes. The event was sponsored by Singapore companies 77th Street and Hairfolio.

Contestants were judged on factors such as their physical fitness, confidence and how well they spoke. Most had never been on a catwalk before this competition, but one would never have guessed, thanks to the six weeks of training the contestants received during the competition.

The event began with the swimwear video segment: contestants introduced themselves, talked about their personal interests, personal life philosophies, as well as their motivations for joining the competition. A few saw the competition as a platform to build their confidence and an opportunity for a good challenge.

Next, contestants had to demonstrate their ability to carry themselves well in eveningwear.

It was great fun for many in the audience to view their friends in a completely different light. The air was pierced with the whistles and screams of supporters bearing banners, whistles and flags, rooting for their friends.

PHOTOS: Michael Chan

The highlight of the pageant was the Q&A session, where the contestants had to answer questions that demonstrated their intelligence and sound thinking of life and current issues. Questions were posed on the meaning of love, the issue of plastic surgery and the differences between men and women.

Answers ranged from the politically correct, to the heartfelt (“Love is not a feeling but a choice, it is giving to others at the expense of yourself”, described Zachariah Koh) to the down-right cheeky. When asked how men could learn from women, and vice versa, contestant Teo Yu Hao quipped that he could not quite yet comprehend women, and would probably not be able to answer the question until he got a girlfriend — and in doing so, openly declared his availability to a greatly amused audience.

Another tough question was “Is plastic surgery an option for the less privileged in the looks department?” The audience held its breath as two contestants maneuvered wise answers to that challenging question. Contestant Deborah Chan took an objective view saying that while it was a matter of the individual’s personal choice, it would not help one’s self image. She ended with the crowdpleaser: “Everyone is beautiful if they take more effort to dress up.”

Contestant Desmond Cheong held a stronger view. “Yes, it is an option available for those less privileged in the looks department. It would help those who have suffered greatly through the years(because of their appearance). Plastic surgery should be an option, but definitely not your first.”

Contestants Stephanie Surya and Ricanto Susanto were eventually crowned Miss and Mr Asia Conference, while Teo Yu Hao and Deborah Chan won second places, with the third places going to Jonathan Ng and Evi Suputra.

Culture — the Church’s Greatest Competitor

SINGAPORE, 23 NOVEMBER 2008 — IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN a lunch time session, but there was a deeper hunger amongst the delegates in Singapore Expo’s Hall 7 to sink into the spiritual and intellectual feast presented by Dr AR Bernard, Senior Pastor of New York’s Christian Cultural Center.

Dr Bernard explained that that culture, not the devil, is the greatest competitor for the hearts and souls of man. Therefore, if culture views the church as irrelevant, the church will be unable to fulfill Christ’s mandate for it to be salt and light in the marketplace.

“If the culture can isolate us, the world will continue the way it is,” cautioned Dr Bernard, who reminded the audience that insulation against the temptations in the world, rather than isolation from the world, is the key to culturally-relevant Christianity.

The delegates clung on to the words of Dr Bernard as he prepared the audience to stand against the attractiveness of worldliness, while engaging the marketplace by having the right values. He zoomed in on the way money, power and fame are perceived.

“The people of the world believe (these three things) are ends to be achieved. But to Christians, these three things are a means to an end to glorify God.” He added that these right values will lead to high standards of behavior, telling the attendees to guard against having worldly values that lead to low standards of behavior, which guarantee destruction.

PHOTOS: Alvin Lim & Alvin Loh

Dr Bernard challenged the members of the audience to become trained, educated and excellent in secular fields, to be well-equipped to navigate the prevalent culture while being diligent with spiritual disciplines, just like Daniel and Joseph.

Only then can the life of God impact the lost in each’s Christian’s sphere of influence.

Liang Meiyan, in her 20s, commented, “As Christians, we spend so much time in the marketplace. It is important to enforce our spiritual disciplines and keep the right values so that we can create maximum impact as we redeem culture while loving God wholeheartedly.”

The audience left the hall filled with a vision coupled with a strong framework to impact their world.

Good Morning, Reverend

SINGAPORE, 23 NOVEMBER 2008 — KEVIN LOO OF City Harvest Church Kuala Lumpur (CHCKL) went into this Sunday morning’s ordination service as a pastor, and came out a Reverend.

While the ordination took an instant, it was a long time in the making for him.

“It’s an acknowledgement of God’s calling in my life, and it really motivates me to continue serving Him and really live out my calling,” he said.

More than just a title, Kevin feels that the ordination is an honor as it reflects the seriousness of his ministry.

Graduating as the top international student in the cohort of 1997 in School of Theology (SOT), Kevin pioneered his new church in 2002 under the guidance of Kong Hee. CHCKL is now 1,400 strong.

This second last session of the Conference — which happened on Sunday — marked a new beginning for six pastors, who were all ordained as Reverends.

Also, four ministers were licensed as pastors.

The ordination ceremony was brief, with the 10 church workers making their way on stage to receive a plaque from Phil Pringle and Kong. Next, they knelt down in prayer as Pringle prayed over each of them.

The newly-ordained ministers come from different countries and backgrounds.

Goh Yock Kiang, Choong Tsih-Ming, and Wu Yu Zhuang are ministers in City Harvest Church (CHC), while Tan Seow How is from Heart of God Church in Singapore. Husband-and-wife team of Wayne Chang and Angel Lee lead the 500-strong Xin Dian Covenant Church in Taiwan.

PHOTOS: Michael Chan & Daniel Poh

Newly licensed pastor Joseph Ang shepherds the Chinese service in CHC, while Bobby Chaw is the dean of SOT. John Lee pastors City Breakthrough Church in Sydney.

Kevin Loo will go home after the Conference to resume his pastoral duties with fresh insight into insulating his congregation as they penetrate secular culture. “Money is a great lure as many of my members are going into adulthood and the workforce, and sometimes you can be easily lured away if your grounding is not right,” he said.

Session 9: Encouragement and Prophecies from the Valley of Dry Bones

SINGAPORE, 23 NOVEMBER 2008 — ASIA CONFERENCE’S PENULTIMATE session started off with a bang. The City Harvest Church (CHC) Band brought the roof down during praise and worship, leading both halls 7 and 8 in exuberant singing, jumping and dancing to the songs like ‘Great is Our God’ and ‘Elevate’. The atmosphere reached its climax as renowned songwriter and worship leader Don Moen appeared on stage to lead his latest song, ‘I Believe There is More’ and the all-time favourite, ‘God is Good’. Moen was scheduled to leave on Friday after the night session but stayed back just for the final two days of the conference. His surprise appearance in the Sunday morning session only served to bring the congregation to a higher level of worship.

Delegates started queuing outside Expo hall 8 from as early as 7am in order to get into the hall and grab the best seats in the house and rushed in the moment doors opened for the pre-service prayer meeting. Their patience was not unrewarded as they were treated to a whole array of performances and best of all, preaching by Phil Pringle.

The first performance showcased CHC’s very own choir with their rendition of ‘For the Beauty of the Earth’. Accompanied by the flute and piano, the choir belted out the song as they looked regal in outfits of shimmery teal for the ladies and sharp black suites for the men. Their performance was shortly followed by the CHC orchestra which was recently registered as the Millennial Orchestra. The orchestra performed a medley of popular national songs from ‘Sketches of Singapore’, a musical composition by Dr Kelly Tang. The medley included familiar tunes such as ‘Stand Up for Singapore’, ‘Rasa Sayang’ , ‘Where I Belong’ and ‘Di Tanjong Katong’. The songs were accompanied by photographs of Singapore both past and present in the background, evoking fond memories and national pride among the Singapore delegates at the conference. The Millenial Orchestra currently has 45 members and aims to become a full-fledged 100-member orchestra.

The performances by the choir and orchestra were a perfect lead-up to what was possibly the most anticipated and exciting announcement of the Conference so far. As Kong Hee took the stage to announce the total Arise & Build 2008 pledge amount (pledges were made by CHC members two weeks before Asia Conference), the congregation started to buzz as the Arise & Build 2008 video was played. Finally it was revealed: A total of $25,040,458.17 had been pledged over the Building Fund weekend, leading multiple eruptions of applause and shouts from the audience, ecstatic that they had once again exceeded the target.

Kong’s offering message once again centred on humanitarian work and encouraged the conference delegates to give their best to help the needy in society. His message followed Oh Gi Gi’s touching personal testimony of how her life was transformed by her experience with volunteers from City Harvest Community Services Association (CHCSA).

Pringle and Kong took the stage for this morning’s special event: the ordination of six Reverends and four Pastors. Wayne Chang, Choong Tsih-Ming, Goh Yock Kiang, Kevin Loo, Tan Seow How, Wu Yu Zhuang, Angel Lee, Joseph Ang, Bobby Chaw and John Lee were ordained and licensed, each receiving a plaque as well as the prayers and blessing of the congregation, Phil and Christine Pringle.

The band from Christian City Church (CCC) led the congregation with songs from their albums ‘Here We Go’ and ‘For Your Glory’. As Pringle took to the stage, everyone was ready with Bible and notebook in hand to take down what this man of God had to say.

In his sermon, entitled “The Resurrection”, Pringle exhorted members to overcome the difficulties in their lives. Drawing from Ezekiel 37, he explored three things: why the dry bones were in the valley, why those bones were dry and disconnected, and lastly, the power of prophecy to revive and resurrect.

He explained that the truest sign of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is when trouble comes into your life. The bones in the valley are those of the ones who gave up, and “stopped walking on”.

He encouraged all of us to keep on walking, that is, overcoming the obstacles in our Christian life. “If you keep walking, even though you slip or you stumble, you will get to the other side”, he said.

The reason behind the bones’ dryness is fivefold —  wounded spirits, cut spirits, bruised, poisoned and disconnected. To wounded spirits, he spoke healing in the form of joy and encouraged the audience to smile; to cut spirits, he called for closure and forgiveness.

PHOTOS: Vincent Liew, Michael Chan, Daniel Poh

In the most powerful part of his message, Pringle explored the power of prophecy to heal and resurrect these dry bones. Through prophecy, bones can become clothed in flesh and connected again. “Prophesy over your area of life”, he encouraged. To drive home this point, Pringle got the congregation to stand and prophesy over their nations, schools, church, family and personal lives.

In conclusion, he explained that the resurrection was meant to be a physical one. “God delights in new things”, he said, “and we should not seek the living among the dead.” We must dissociate ourselves from “the dead” in the form of old, conventional things and shun negative thinking. Pringle then led the congregation into a rousing declaration of encouragement and victory over all circumstances through verses from the Bible. With positive affirmation, the dry bones in our life can become alive again.

Entering the Day in Prayer

SINGAPORE, 22 NOVEMBER 2008 — FOUR FULL DAYS of Asia Conference 2008 have passed, but many attendees were still eager — despite their physical tiredness — to make their way to Singapore Expo in the early hours of the morning to pray together.

Hall 8 filled up fast, and the prayer meeting started at 8.30am. It began with a time for personal prayer. As worship music played in the background, everyone looked for some personal space to seek God. There was an atmosphere of prayerfulness, as the people turned to God for the needs in their lives.

PHOTOS: Alvin Lim

After 45 minutes of personal prayer, Deputy Senior Pastor of City Harvest Church Tan Ye Peng took to the stage and led the congregation into worship and prayer for the lives and ministry of all the delegates. Everyone agreed passionately with Tan as he prayed for faith and boldness to bring about the change they sought in their countries.

The morning prayer meeting set a faith-filled tone for the remaining sessions as the attendees cried out for greater impartation and a mighty move of God.

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