IT was just another ordinary Sunday and I did my usual Christian duty and trudged off to church.
But that was where the ordinary stopped and the extraordinary began.
The Sunday speaker was the senior pastor of the church and after the communal prayer, he began with the absolute duty of the congregation to pray, protect, persevere and even pursue the truth.
It is usually at this point in the service that I start to catch up on my sleep and have the 'religious awakening' after the sermon, week after week.
But this Sunday's sermon was different, to say the least.
It meandered off course from the normal boring hellfire and brimstone sermons and zeroed in on the hellfire in the upcoming MCA elections…a thoroughly engaging topic even from the pulpit.
A sure cure for the very common ailment often called sermon- induced languor and 'religious awakenings'.
He began with something we'd all forgotten.
Spiritual amnesia…that's what he calls the inability to recall vital verses and pulpit lessons.
Wasn't it the MCA that opened its doors to the Metro Tabernacle church after it was torched?
Hallowed grounds?
Wasn't the MCA turned into hallowed grounds until the church had its new premises?
So, for a while, the MCA was actually transformed into the house of God, so said the preacher.
I must admit, I had never thought of it that way.
And was it not the president, Ong Tee Keat who graciously opened the doors to the stricken church.
By that very act alone, the sermon went on, "all Christians, and right and fair minded individuals have a moral and spiritual obligation to hold this man fast in prayers for the upcoming party elections, which many say is a tough uphill task for the reigning president."
Think about it. Here, was an almost oxymoronic proposition. The church and the state were separate entities in a democratic system of governance such as Malaysia.
Yet, here we have an irenic move by an otherwise (and any other given day) volatile party wrecked by intrigue, backstabbing and treachery, presenting their unsanctified but nonetheless revered hall for the worship and praise of holy God!
Hey but wait. Doesn't it say in the good book (Matt 21:42) that the stone the builders have rejected, God will use as a cornerstone?
At the peril of being pedantic or even exegetic, was not the cornerstone the foundation upon which all other stones would be set in reference to this stone?
The party cornerstone
The cornerstone therefore determines the position of the entire structure forever.
President Ong Tee Keat, in no uncertain terms, embodies the very foundations upon which the party, the nation…and the church were built on…truth, integrity and equality for all.
But from the beginning of time, the truth has been under attack. In the Garden of Eden, wasn't it Eve who was first deceived into eating the forbidden fruit?
And ever since, it's been a trying time for all men and women who have stood up and proclaimed the truth.
The forces of evil, throughout history, have conspired to bring down and defeat good.
And the primary tool used has been the deception of portraying evil and dark forces as angels of light.
In any political battle, it is axiomatic that the man or woman who holds the high moral ground, has the decisive edge.
But that decisive edge in the current MCA politics is getting clouded by intrigue, superficial innuendo and the proverbial wool over the delegates’ eyes by promise keepers who are standing on sinking sand.
While the incumbent president has a clear view of what his tasks ahead are for the coming years, his opponents seem to have a short-term and pornographic vision of the future they want for the party.
And this simply not kosher and bodes a dubious end for not just the MCA but the whole BN wagon as well if these deceivers are elected—
Malaysian Mirror
16/03/10
But that was where the ordinary stopped and the extraordinary began.
The Sunday speaker was the senior pastor of the church and after the communal prayer, he began with the absolute duty of the congregation to pray, protect, persevere and even pursue the truth.
It is usually at this point in the service that I start to catch up on my sleep and have the 'religious awakening' after the sermon, week after week.
But this Sunday's sermon was different, to say the least.
It meandered off course from the normal boring hellfire and brimstone sermons and zeroed in on the hellfire in the upcoming MCA elections…a thoroughly engaging topic even from the pulpit.
A sure cure for the very common ailment often called sermon- induced languor and 'religious awakenings'.
He began with something we'd all forgotten.
Spiritual amnesia…that's what he calls the inability to recall vital verses and pulpit lessons.
Wasn't it the MCA that opened its doors to the Metro Tabernacle church after it was torched?
Hallowed grounds?
Wasn't the MCA turned into hallowed grounds until the church had its new premises?
So, for a while, the MCA was actually transformed into the house of God, so said the preacher.
I must admit, I had never thought of it that way.
And was it not the president, Ong Tee Keat who graciously opened the doors to the stricken church.
By that very act alone, the sermon went on, "all Christians, and right and fair minded individuals have a moral and spiritual obligation to hold this man fast in prayers for the upcoming party elections, which many say is a tough uphill task for the reigning president."
Think about it. Here, was an almost oxymoronic proposition. The church and the state were separate entities in a democratic system of governance such as Malaysia.
Yet, here we have an irenic move by an otherwise (and any other given day) volatile party wrecked by intrigue, backstabbing and treachery, presenting their unsanctified but nonetheless revered hall for the worship and praise of holy God!
Hey but wait. Doesn't it say in the good book (Matt 21:42) that the stone the builders have rejected, God will use as a cornerstone?
At the peril of being pedantic or even exegetic, was not the cornerstone the foundation upon which all other stones would be set in reference to this stone?
The party cornerstone
The cornerstone therefore determines the position of the entire structure forever.
President Ong Tee Keat, in no uncertain terms, embodies the very foundations upon which the party, the nation…and the church were built on…truth, integrity and equality for all.
But from the beginning of time, the truth has been under attack. In the Garden of Eden, wasn't it Eve who was first deceived into eating the forbidden fruit?
And ever since, it's been a trying time for all men and women who have stood up and proclaimed the truth.
The forces of evil, throughout history, have conspired to bring down and defeat good.
And the primary tool used has been the deception of portraying evil and dark forces as angels of light.
In any political battle, it is axiomatic that the man or woman who holds the high moral ground, has the decisive edge.
But that decisive edge in the current MCA politics is getting clouded by intrigue, superficial innuendo and the proverbial wool over the delegates’ eyes by promise keepers who are standing on sinking sand.
While the incumbent president has a clear view of what his tasks ahead are for the coming years, his opponents seem to have a short-term and pornographic vision of the future they want for the party.
And this simply not kosher and bodes a dubious end for not just the MCA but the whole BN wagon as well if these deceivers are elected—
Malaysian Mirror
16/03/10
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