The straight three-night evangelistic rally given by Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong was brought to a conclusion by the grace of our Heavenly Father. The rally left much for Sibu Christians to reflect upon!In all honesty, had we as God-loving Christians from different denominations put good efforts into this rally? Let us hold ourselves to be answerable and accountable to God! The turnout for the three nights showed that there was a lot more space to be filled up. Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong reminded the congregation more than one time in his message," You have to be diligent in serving God."
The speaker's message for the three nights was both evangelical and revival. More than half of the congregation were Christians coming from various churches of different denominations. Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong's message was spiritually uplifting. Those participants who opened themselves up to God's words would have been the reapers!
There has got to be a systematic follow-up for the newly committed. Don't let them slip off down the road! Churches have got to take it up to bring them up.
God has enriched Rev. Dr. Stephen Tong with strength to carry on God's work. At 70, he has set no agenda yet to retire. "With God's blessings, I wish to come back for gospel rallies in Sarawak in three years' time. I plan to have them in Mandarin with BM translation." I salute Rev. Tong for being untiring in serving God!
Photo: Ting Leng Kieh
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2 comments:
Christians have to be honest before God. In this kind of meeting where there are lots of people, good sound system and well rehersed activities, people are more drawn by emotions rather than being moved by the Holy Spirit. In the book of Acts, when the Holy Spirit actually moved, the believers behaved like drunked people. In all honesty, if we see people like that, we would run away and think that it is some kind of deviated teaching. And especially if they start to bla everything in tongues or foreign language. We expect the Holy Spirit to be as well behaved as we are. If you are from a traditional church, you would stay out of the way of the Holy Spirit that is mentioned in the book of Acts. Just imagine if for that three nights, all the Christians that were in the Town Square actually bla in tongues, sing in tongues, worship in tongues and actually let the Holy Spirit move, you think what will happen next ? I imagine the police will come. But I know that if it is the genuine move of God, the police would not do anything because God will touch their hearts and they too will know that the people are okay. So, the question is. Is it the move of the Holy Spirit or just human beings responding to their own emotions ? Is Christian a western religion and because of this people want to believe in it ? Is it because people hate their own traditions that they prefer to become westernized via Christianity ?
Yes, I agree with you that when the Holy Spirit is moving, the impact on the lives of each one is different.
I came from a traditional church but I have been very much exposed to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 2 weeks ago, I attended a christian seminar. I did not ask to be prayed over to be filled with the Holy Spirit but He filled me for the first time by enabling me to speak in tongue. Halleluyah!
Since that encounter, I began to read up more on that topic and i discover that there are 3 types of tongues The first one is praying tongue whereby he himself doesnt understand but to speak to Gode only. The aim is to praise God and no interpretation and can neither be interpretated. Every christian can have it.
The second type is the gift of tongue. He himself doesnt understand but speak to church and aim to edify, comfort and encourage(1corin 14:27) and it needs interpretation. Not every believer has this gift.
the last type is tongue to witness to unbeliever. He himself doesnt understand, speak to unbelievers. It is to let the unbeleiver see the miracle- speak the language that they do not learn in order to bring themn to God(1con14:21-22). The Holy Spirit will rule the languagte spoken. Believers cant ask for it as it is given by God.
Paul speaks in tongue (Acts 9:16-17 1 Cor 14:18) so believers in the NT should welcome the blessings of baptism of the Holy Spirit!!!
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