When I first came to know the Lord, I attended a liberal church. The church was a big church (physically). The pastors were "nice" people. One of them was quite worldly and materialistic. He was neo-orthodox – that is to say, he does not believe the Bible is the Word of God, but that it contains the Word of God. The other pastor was "harmless" but a liberal lecturing in a liberal Bible College. As a young Christian, I did not know much about theology, but this one thing I always remember on a Sunday morning, and that is the pastor’s favourite phrase – "The Time Magazine says." I did not hear much of what the infallible, inerrant Word of God says. Some years later I left the church.

There are many kinds of denominations today. Every denomination claims to preach and teach the Word. Some pastors in these denominations always say to their congregations that God has spoken to them last night or this morning, and God wants them to do this or that. And the sad part of it is that many of these ignorant congregants believe every word of it. The other day I was visiting a member and he told me that his neighbour went to a certain church. She was exhorted to give her money to the church. And so she gave and gave and gave to the church. The leadership was very happy with her. Then one day this member met her and told her that this is not the way to give to the Lord’s house. She heeded his advice. When the leaders of the church found out that she is no longer giving enthusiastically to the church, they become unfriendly to her. Since then, she stopped going to this church or any other churches.

Beware of false prophets, teachers, apostles, christs and brethren that creep into the local assembly! They may look scholarly but they are deceitful people. Jeremiah said, "The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie" (Jeremiah 28:15; 29:9, 31).

Which denomination should I join to worship God? Which church should I attend in order to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ? If you attend a church that is not Christ-centered, which does not preach or teach the Word, it would be obvious why you are not receiving spiritual nourishment. In such a case, it would be a good idea to leave that church and find a Bible-believing church that faithfully proclaims the Word.

However, if God’s Word is being preached and taught in your church, but you come to feel that you are not getting fed or ministered, what should you do? Is the preacher or teacher of the Word at fault? Or are you to be blamed? Who is at fault?

Noah was a preacher of righteousness for 120 years. He was faithful in reproving the wickedness of his age and warned the world of the coming judgment of God (2 Peter 2:5). At the end of it, how many souls were saved? Only eight souls, and that included Noah! (1 Peter 3:20; Genesis 7:23)

Many of us may ask, "Was Noah an effective preacher? Was he at fault? Was there any thing wrong with his preaching?" The answer is No. The rejection of Noah’s preaching had nothing to do with his ability to proclaim the Word.

Jeremiah was called to preach to his people (Jeremiah 1). He was known to be a weeping prophet (Jeremiah 9:1). He preached for 40 years to a stubborn, disobedient, rebellious people. The Word not only fell on deaf ears, but his hearers showed their displeasure toward him by persecuting him severely (Jeremiah 20; 26; 37). Did he give up? Did he throw in the towel?

Judging from the standard of today’s motivational speakers, Jeremiah had definitely failed miserably as a preacher of the Word. Yes, they agreed with you that his message was good, but somehow he did not know how to bring it across to the people. For that reason, he was disqualified to be a preacher.

Is this also the way Lifers judge God’s spokesmen? The rejection of a preacher (just because his style does not suit us) does not disqualify him from preaching and teaching the Word. He is not a cast away (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).

Jesus was the greatest preacher and teacher of all time. The people were astonished by His teaching and commented, "For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes" (Matthew 7:29). Yet there were others who rejected His teaching. Jesus told the people in the synagogue in Capernaum that He is the Bread of Life. He said to them that unless they eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, they have no life in them (John 6:48, 53). The people began to argue among themselves and said, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" (John 6:52)

John tells us that many of His disciples who heard and understood Him said, "This is an hard saying; who can hear it?" (John 6:60) In other words, these disciples heard and understood what Jesus taught, but somehow they could not and would not accept it. Consequently, many of them left Him from that time on and walked no more with Him (John 6:66). And Jesus turned to the twelve and said, "Will ye also go away?" And Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life" (John 6:67, 68).

Will Lifers also turn away and walk no more with Jesus just because of the hard and challenging truth you heard on the Lord’s Day?

Paul was the greatest missionary of all time. Since his conversion, he went everywhere preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and teaching God’s Word to the churches he founded, either personally or by means of letters.

Did Paul face any opposition in his ministry? Paul had a great ministry, but he also encountered many unfavourable responses from the people. He did not have a hundred percent listening audience. For instance, when he was preaching at Mars’ Hill of Athens, the people heard him, but they responded to his message differently. We read in Acts 17:32-34, "And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them."

Did Paul fail in his ministry just because some people opposed, mocked, ridiculed and rejected him and his preaching? I do not think so. He was a par excellence missionary pastor, teacher and writer (2 Timothy 4:7, 8).

Having said this, I am not saying that preachers and teachers of the past and the present have no faults. The greatest fault, I believe, is their lack of understanding of the Holy Scripture and their skill of interpreting it. Sometimes I just wonder where they learned their hermeneutics and theology. I do not deny that effective communication of the truth is important. But I believe that interpreting the truth accurately is more important than communicating it (Acts 18:24-28). Styles of communicating the Word may differ because God uses different people in different ways. We all have different personalities.

What is the church’s mentality today? I feel that today’s church mentality is to invite the best preacher or teacher to speak at its pulpit or Bible conferences. So they spent thousands of dollars to fly them in to Singapore. One pastor says that this speaker is better than John Doe. Another disagrees. Is this something new? No. This happened 2000 years ago in a problematic church in the city of Corinth.

If you would take the time to read Galatians 2:1-10 and compare it with Acts 18:24-28, you would find that Paul, Apollos and Peter all preached the same thing. The difference was not in what they preached. They all had exactly the same message – that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, according to the will of God, He died on the cross for our sins, that He was buried, that He rose again, that He ascended to the right hand of the Father. So the disagreement was not about what they taught.

Furthermore, the Scripture also tells us that each of these men had a different personality, a different kind of background and a different kind of emphasis. All of these men had visited Corinth at various times, had spoken in that church, and as a result, the believers began to deify them, not on the basis of their teaching. Consequently, they began to separate themselves from each other, not on the basis of which teacher was right and which teacher was wrong, but solely on the basis of which one they preferred. They made comparison between Paul and Apollos. They said that Apollos, a very cultured and very polished and very eloquent person (Acts 18:24), was a better speaker than Paul (2 Corinthians 10:10; 11:6). But Paul rebuked them that it is a foolish thing to compare oneself with another (2 Corinthians 10:12).

Dear Lifer, is this the kind of attitude you have? "I am of so and so because so and so is a better speaker than so and so?" Divisions glorify men. Divisions deify men.

Is it the hearer’s fault? Spiritual insensitivity is a great hindrance to hearing the Word of God. Hebrews 5:11 says, "Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing." There are many things which are hard to be understood. The writer of Hebrews knew that what he had to say of this man (i.e. Christ) as a type of the Redeemer would excite wonder, and that many might be disposed to call it in question. He knew that in order to be understood, what he was about to say required a familiar acquaintance with the Holy Scripture, and a strong and elevated faith. A young convert, one who had just commenced the Christian life, could hardly expect to be able to understand it.

Some Lifers commented that they have difficulties understanding the Sunday messages or the Sunday messages do not help them spiritually. I take this comment seriously. I will check myself and ask God to help me to communicate His Word more effectively. However, could it be the hearer’s problem? I think there are at least three reasons why God’s people are not benefiting from His Word.

Firstly, the Word preached does not profit them because of their slowness of hearts to understand the great principles of the Gospel (Hebrews 5:11). Secondly, the Word preached does not profit them because they do not believe it (Hebrews 4:2). Finally, the Word preached does not profit them because they do not put the truth to practice (James 1:22-25). Start sharing the Word with others. Receiving the Word nourishes us in one way – becoming a channel through which the Word flows, nourishes us in another.

If I am not ministered to in my church, should I leave for another church? My answer is an emphatic NO unless it is a liberal, ecumenical church. We are to stay on to help build up that local assembly to the glory of God. Amen. —CW

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A devotional message targeting at personal reformation which is needful in our walk with God. The speaker will be drawing lessons from the Protestant Reformation and examine how these lessons can impact us and draw us closer to God.

3.00 pm to 3.20 pm - Welcome & Singspiration
3.20 pm to 4.15 pm - Message
4.15 pm to 5.00 pm - Q & A
5.00 pm to 6.00 pm - Fellowship + Refreshment

1) Infant Baptism on Anniversary Sunday, 22 Oct 06, 9.30 am. Please register with the Church Office (tel: 6256-9256) or email Yin Chan giving child’s name, date of birth and parents’ names and address.

2) Combined Anniversary Service: 9:30 am on 22 Oct. This will be followed by a catered buffet lunch for all worshippers. Offerings to defray the cost of the lunch are welcome.

3) Kuching Mission Trip (2-4 Dec, Sat-Mon) to celebrate 16th Anniversary of Kuching B-P Church. Those interested, contact Rev Colin Wong at 6256-4312 or the Church Office at 6256-9256 by Tue, 3 Oct.

4) Family Worship 2007. Those who wish to open their homes for family worship from Jan to Nov 2007, on the 4th Friday of the month, kindly contact Rev Wong at cwong at lifebpc dot com or 6256-4312.

5) Children’s Camp ’06: 20-22 Nov (Mon-Wed). Theme: Growing in Christ. Speaker: Pr Ho Chee Lai. Venue: Aloha Changi. Calling P3-P6 children who are attending PJWS/JWS. 40 vacancies only! Closing date: 29 Oct. Contact Keng Khwang at 63567466 or email quekkk at lifebpc dot com.

6) Scripture Memory Review No. 3: A written review has been given out. Please submit by next week. Review No. 1 and 2 sheets are also available for those who missed them. Obtainable at the front counter.

7) The Library: Lifers are encouraged to visit the Library which is open every Sunday, 12:15 - 12:45 pm. There are about 3,000 Christian books for all ages!

8) Grace & Moriah Combined Event at Moriah B-P Church, 31 Simei Rd. on 11 & 12 Oct. Please see insert for details. RSVP by Sunday, 8 Oct 06.

9) Gospel Sunday: Invite your friends and loved ones to the Gospel Sunday on 29 Oct 06. Please pray for:

(1) Rev Tan Eng Boo (English) and Rev Lim Jit Thye (Mandarin) who will speak on the topic, "True Peace" at 10:45 am service; and

(2) Mark Chen who will speak at Rehoboth Evening Service on the topic, "The Anxiety of Man" at 6:00 pm (Reformation Gospel Message).

10) Congratulations to Boey Chung Wai and Sharon on the birth of a baby girl on 22 Sep 06.