Does Kevin Rudd have a pastor?

Recently, Kevin Rudd had made statements that displayed more than anything his own ignorance of the bible at best, and willful disobedience to God at worst. And this was from a very smart man who publicly and repeatedly claim to be Christian. There have been several useful writings on how Kevin Rudd misread the bible and got its meaning wrong. Here are two I found particularly note-worthy: from Sandy Grant (the senior minister at St Michael’s Anglican Cathedral) and from Glenn Davies (the newly elected Anglican Archbishop of Sydney).

I hope he would read one or two of those writings done as response to him, and seriously consider his own relationship with God, where he is standing with Jesus. Now that the election campaign is over, and he is almost certain to step down from the role of Prime Ministership, perhaps it's a ripe time for him to consider what it is that he actually believes in. It might be God's most gracious hand at work for him right now as he loses 2013 Federal Election.

But, I also have something I never heard asked yet. If Kevin Rudd is a Christian as he claims to be, does he belong to a church? Even if he couldn't consistently attend one church because of his busy schedule, if he is a Christian, he would have a church that he would call home, wouldn't he? And if that's the case, my question really is, who is the pastor to Kevin Rudd? For his misunderstandings of the bible and his misguided ethical choices, has anything been said to him by a pastor? Or what about elders in Kevin Rudd's church? Have they taken an action on his gross misunderstanding of God's Word and his disobedience to it? I hope there have been, and if not, I hope it will happen at the first possible opportunity. That is what I would expect from a pastor and elders in the church I belong. If I am going off the track in terms of my understanding and obedience to God's Word, please, God help our church(es), pastors and elders rebuke and correct me.

I suppose, in some ways, this isn't a job exclusively for a pastor or an elder in the church. To a little lesser degree, it's a job for every Christian. So, what about me?
If I saw someone from my church who is going off the track in terms of their faith in Jesus, love for Jesus, obedience to His Word, and if I am in a position and relationship with that person to speak to him, will I do that? Or will I ignore it and hide behind my politeness? Will I, with patience, plead with him to reconsider what God has said and who Jesus is, or will I grieve inside, but not enough to actually do something about it? Will I pray like crazy for this drowning brother or sister, whom Christ died for? Do I?

Farewell, SCPC EM!

I was 15 when I started coming to this church. That means I have spent roughly half of my whole life here at SCPC EM, now called the Rock church. My wife, Sulah also joined me here when we got married about 2 years ago. For all those years, God had been most faithful and gracious with us, encouraging and challenging us to grow in many ways, often through people here at the Rock. First me, and then years later, my wife, we were both warmly welcomed into the lives of many people here, and we know the friendship will continue even though we may not be able to see each other so often as we would like to.

Yes, it is true. We are saying goodbye. As you have now learned, perhaps as a bit of shock to some, my family have decided to start attending a local church nearer to our home. The reason, or rather, the purpose for moving is something that has been on both my mind and my wife’s for quite some time. For several years now, I have had a desire to be part of a local, non-ethnic church where I could serve its local community with the gospel. When I married Sulah, I was delightfully surprised to find that she also had a similar desire. And as we talked about this, we started dreaming, dreaming of reaching the Australian community which once was built on the Christian foundation, but now has lost it. Once we both had this dream, we had sought God’s guidance in this matter. We also tried to weed out any sinful motives that might influence our decision making. Several months passed before we mentioned our thoughts to pastor Bernie, and then many more months before we finally submitted our thoughts and desires to our God in deciding to leave the Rock and join a local church (which we now have to find). It was difficult and slow coming as you can imagine, especially when we knew that it was not impossible to reach non-Koreans here at the Rock. In the end, however, we learned to trust God and step out, even while having some nagging doubts and fears remaining! Have we got some kind of undeniable assurance that this is God’s will for us? No, but we came to believe that God will be with us and be pleased in us acting out in faith. Have we eliminated all our sinful, ulterior motives? I hope so, and we do not perceive any within ourselves, but it’s possible that we are still subtly affected by them. In this as well, we came to believe that God is gracious and will teach us wisdom without condemning us as we continue walking in Him.

Now that we are embarking on a new chapter of our lives, we wish to express our gratitude, ask for your prayers, and give you a reminder.

For the past 15 years, many of you have helped me grow as a Christian and accepted me as part of the family. I am most acutely aware of your love and maturity since I got married. I saw many of you showing good will and extending your friendship and support towards my wife without any reservation. We thank God for such love we received from you, and we want to say thank you to you all as well. Especially to pastor Bernie, thank you for all the years of loving, counselling, and understanding, and all this even when we shared our thoughts about leaving the Rock. We are not here to encourage people to leave this church, but we still want to acknowledge the maturity of the pastor and the congregation here at the Rock for being able to send us out in love.

Now, as you can imagine, after all those good years here at the Rock Church, we find changing church extremely daunting to say the least. This church is the only one I’ve been a member of since I was 15, and with your great encouragement and support, my wife and I began, enjoyed, and grew in our marriage here at the Rock. We both grew to know God better here. It was at this church that I saw the glory of the sovereign God and rejoiced for the first time in my life. It was at this church that I learned the bible was entirely and absolutely true word of God. It was at this church that we learned the famously phrased truth, God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. It was at this church I realised that I must like Jesus as well as obey Jesus, in other words, delighting in Jesus was part of His command for us. And now we need to find and settle in another church where we will be taught God’s word clearly and faithfully, build relationships, serve sacrificially, and learn to glorify God in all that we are and all that we do. Please pray for us that in and through the new church, God may preserve us, provide for us, and complete the good work He started in us. Also pray for us that we may be fruitful in the ministries that we will be part of in the new church as well.

Finally, we wish to leave you by reminding you of a bible passage, 1 Cor 15:3-4.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

Apostle Paul says that he delivered this message of Christ crucified as of first importance. This message is still of first importance. Many things can be said from this, but let me remind you just a few things from it. Jesus died for our sins and was raised. It is this Person and this event that is the goodnews we bear to ourselves and to the world, not how-to’s or to-do’s. And we didn’t make it up according to our fanciful thoughts, but this event happened according to the Scriptures, God’s own word. God is the author and perfecter of our salvation, from beginning to end. The world began by God’s word, and it has run its course according to His word, and will end as He decreed in His word, the bible. And at the centre of history, at the core of His purposes, there is Jesus. I want to remind you to seek and obey Jesus of the bible and never sway from Him or His word. If we all, by God’s grace, stay with Him and stick by His word, then we will most certainly meet again one day, and rejoice and worship God together like never before. The new heaven and earth awaits us. Let us bear the good news of Christ crucified. How paradoxically glorious and humble our God is!

Soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone)!

Wonil (Tim), Sammy (Sulah), and John Lee

Back from the camp

Came back from the High School Ministry camp yesterday. As it is often the case in my experience, it was tiring, yet good time spent together.

Thank you Dave for preaching God and His gospel with such accuracy and love.

Gossip in church?

I'm as guilty as anyone according to Mr. Spurgeon. I'm afraid if everyone who gossip in our church is to be expelled, our church would be empty. Yikes.

May God help us to be a people worthy of His holiness.

Could be a good pair of church motto

from Pyromaniacs:
The right balance (positively put)
The right balance (negatively put)

I think it doesn't only apply as a church, but also to every individual who profess to be a Christian.

Oh, how I wish this to my church and in my own life as well.

Back from camp...

I've been away at my church camp just over the weekend.
Tired, but the fellowship with people is always encouraging. Unfortunately, I didn't take a camera so I don't have any photos yet. Dang...