SUNDAY PREACHING IN SANTA CRUZ, BOLIVIA

Last Sunday I preached at the congregation, Cristo Luz Del Mundo, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. I was their previous pastor and so it was great to see old friends again.

I had been away for about 10 months and was quite apprehensive over the quality of my Spanish in the pulpit. I had been away for 10 months and had only preached in English during this period. Spontaniety and a minimal reliance on sermon notes characterised my preaching Santa Cruz. I was fearful of mental blocks which at times can block the flow of thoughts in a sermon. My apprehensions were unwarranted. Two minutes into the sermon and it was like I had never left the place. The Biblical revelation cracked open through the spoken word as I sensed Holy Spirit´s power surge through my heart and lips. Biblical preaching has a life of its own. I was speaking on Thomas´s confession of faith in the Resurrected Christ (Blessed are those who do not see but believe).

It was a typical Bolivian summer. People were sweating; I more than them; the ladies were using fans. My clerical shirt was totally drenched after the sermon.

I love to preach in Spanish. Thomas Merton once said that next to Latin, Spanish was the most best language of worship. Merton was right. And preaching in Spanish comes across, to me anyway, as an offering to the Almighty.

Raphael´s (not me!) painting of Paul´s proclamation of gospel in Athens is above.

SHOULD PREACHERS CITE THEIR SOURCES?

I went to a traditional mega church for Sunday service. The rain did not douse my enthusiasm for wanting to go. My wife and I jumped into a taxi and made our way to the church.

It was stewardship Sunday. I was impressed by the flow of the service. The sermon and the challenge to give by faith was tastefully done. There was no heavy sell and the congregation were not manipulated or forced to give. The amount raised, a cool six figures, was staggering!

But what left me uncomfortable was the absence of citations in the sermon. Half the content was lifted from a secular book. The same phrases and words were used. Even the title of the book coincided with the title of the sermon!

What's the problem in not citing the source of a major insight in one's sermon. Not doing so is plagiarism. And besides, doesn't citing a source give the impression to the congregation that the sermon is well researched?

Inspite of this lapse, the message was edifying: persevere in all the little things which eventually tip the Lord's blessing toward us. A meatier biblical content would have given the message a bigger punch.

I'm a little puzzled as to why the source was not cited during the preaching.

Is this a common practice in Singapore churches?

EUCHARIST
by Terry Anderson

Today I preached at St Andrew's Cathedral and shared the Eucharist with God's people. The eucharist, a sacred meal, instituted by Christ, is a living testimony of Christ's covenant keeping love for His people.

To help us appreciate the significance of the eucharist I've chosen a poem by Terry Anderson which is a meditation of believers anxiously gathering around a priest as he consecrates the elements of bread and wine within an oppressive situation.

Five men huddled close
against the night and our oppressors,
around a bit of stale bread
hoarded from a scantly meal,
and a candle, lit not only as
a symbol but to read the text by.

The priest's as poorly clad.
as drawn with strain as any,
but his voice is calm, his face serene.
This is the core of his existence,
the reason he was born.

Behind him I can see
his predecessors in their generations,
back to the catacombs,
heads nodding in approval,
hands with his tracing
out the stately ritual,
adding the power of their suffering
and faith to his, and ours.

the ancient words shake off
their dust, and come alive.
The voices of their authors
echo clearly from the damp, bare walls.
The familiar prayers come
straight out of our hearts.
Once again Christ's promise
is fulfilled; his presence fills us.
The miracle is real.

HEAVY LIFTING SUNDAY PREACHING

It was a busy Sunday.

I preached at 4 services - 3 at St James and 1 at St Andrew's Cathedral.

St James are focusing on Missions for the month of September. So I chose the episode of Christ crossing the lake over to the Gerasenes, a predominantly gentile region. Jews and Gentiles were'nt exactly bosom buddies in those days. And by crossing the lake, Jesus was signalling His intention to reach out to the nations. This episode has all the components of a no holds barred evangelistic campaign. The calming of the storm, a powerful act of deliverance and rejection from the locals are some of the incidents of this episode. The recognition of something of the divine in Christ on the part of the demons, the disciples and the man freed from satanic oppression testify to the power of proclamation!!

In the evening, I preached on the first chapter of Jonah in the NEW LIFE service at St Andrew's Cathedral. The missionary significance of this marvellous short story and the conversion of pagan mariners speaks powerfully of God's love reaching the nations.

Preaching is work. At the end of the day I was tired but glad for the priviledge of serving the Lord in the pulpit.

AT THE ASCENSION!

Last Sunday I had the opportunity to celebrate the eucharist and preach at the Church Of The Ascension.

The first service was traditional and based on the Alternative Service Book which appeared in the 80's. This prayer book formed the basis for the South East Asian prayer book. Most of the folk were senior members of the church. I'm getting into the swing of preaching in English. In Bolivia I'm more animated and inductive in my sermons. In Singapore I'm sober and sound more cognitive.

The highlight was to sing the eucharistic prayers with responses from the congregation. I can't remember the last time I did this. I was a little nervous at first but the congregation was used to the chants. It was a satisfying experience.

The second service was contemporary. The worship leader, Dennis was an old friend. There was no Eucharist and so I had more time to preach. We had a short time of ministry during the service. Young people, mainly youth formed the bulk of the congregation. This is a blessing because newer churches tend to draw the youth. The more established historic churches, like the Church of the Ascension are therefore challenged to provide exciting programmes for the young.

We've managed to keep our young people because of the network of relationships, a youth leader replied when I asked him for the reasons as to the relatively large contingent of young people in the second service.

After the service, I had lunch with some of the members of the Church at a Food Court. I tried the Korean food and my new found friends, David and Phillip went for the local fare. Our conversation covered a wide range of subjects from men's ministry to some of the trends in the Singapore church.

SUNDAY MEGA CHURCH ADVENTURE

I was not down to preach or celebrate at a church this weekend so I took the opportunity to attend 2 mega church services during the weekend.

LORD'S SUPPER
By a strange coincidence both services included The Lord's Supper. The preparation before the sacred meal was short, informal and dependant on the spontaneous words of the elder who presided over the elements of bread & wine. Passages of scripture were read aloud before a brief exhortation which then led to the administering of the Lord's supper.

Both churces did not have a prayer of confession neither was there a statement which excluded non baptised persons from participating. Missing also was the aura of sacrifice in the Eucharist. Aiyaaahhh...the Anglican in me cringed. It needs to be said however that I felt at home in the midst of God's people. It took both churches roughly 10 minutes to round up the Lord's supper.

PREACHING
The preaching in both churches lasted for about 40 to 45 minutes. One lady preacher used used a slick power point presentation. The male preacher from the other church flashed his scripture passages on the screen. Both messages came from sincere hearts. He, an associate pastor, sounded like the Senior Pastor in that his message came across with lots of authority.

Singapore churches have been blessed with strong local leadership. Its sometimes difficult for young Singaporean christians to fully appreciate what the Lord has done in raising the current generation of local leaders. Young christians in their 20's never experienced the trials of first generation local Singaporean pastors. It was only in the 60's that the locals began to assume major leadership positions.

MR LIM
The highlight for me however was a time of sharing with Mr Lim at a food court after one of the services. I was eating brunch - char siew pow (buns with pork filling) and teh si (tea with evaporated milk). A man bought his coffee mug and sat opposite me; he carried a small bible on his other hand. He returned my friendly smile and before long I asked him about his church affiliation. And that got us into a free wheeling discussion which lasted for about 45 minutes; we covered a range of topics from evangelism to fallen pastors.

I was surprised when Lim said that some of his non christian friends confronted him with ideas from Richard Dawkins, the atheist philosopher. I thought that Dawkins was too high brow for the average christian. Was I wrong in my assumptions? Were Lim's friends the exception? Hmnn...I wonder.

1st SUNDAY SERVICE IN SINGAPORE


A FRIENDLY WELCOME
We are staying at an apartment in the west of Singapore: a place called Holland Village; so of we went to the nearest Anglican church - the parish of St James. We bumped into a few old friends, Khairon and Revd William Chee. After the service a young lady, Denise, walked up to my wife and spoke a little spanish; she worked in Youth With A Mission and has heart for Latin America.

Canon Terry Wong, vicar of the church and his wife Jennifer were very hospitable; they took us for lunch after the service and made us feel at home. Jennifer, medical doctor, is a very friendly person with an uncanny ability to make you feel at home. Canon James Wong, the Archdeacon from the diocese of Mauritius was also at the service. He is a friendly guy who speaks French, Creole and English. He is on sabbatical in Singapore.

TYPE OF SERVICE
The service was a non traditional mattins. Contemporary Praise & Worship coupled with prayers from the prayer book formed the basic format of the service. Most of the services in the diocese of Singapore would more or less resemble the one we experienced at St James. Although the music had no latin rythmns and some of the songs were not familiar, we felt at home. Terry spoke on the Christian In The Public Square. Some of his comments concerning unkown missionaries engaged in education and church development at the turn of the century in Singapore, spoke to me. We sometimes tend to forget that our work here and now would not have been possible if it was not for the extraordinary and sacrificial efforts of early missionaries.

After service we had lunch with Terry, Jennifer and Archdeacon James. The fellowship was priceless as we shared notes on what was going on in our lives; It was great to be back with the brethren in Singapore!!

ASCENSION DAY - COLLECT

Grant, we pray, almighty God, that as we believe your only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens, so we in heart and mind may also ascend and with him continually dwell; who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

SUNDAY AFTER ASCENSION - COLLECT

Oh God the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: we beseech you, leave us not comfortless, but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us and exalt us to the place where our Saviour Christ is gone before, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

CATHOLIC-EVANGELICAL-CHARISMATIC

A visitor at our sunday service recently made a very incisive observation concerning her worship experience. She said,

"When I closed my eyes I was in a Pentecostal or Charismatic church

When I opened my eyes I was in a Catholic church

When I heard the sermon I was in an Evangelical church"

Yup...a very accurate perception of the Anglican church in Bolivia.

NO HONOR AMONG THIEVES

Church Members Robbed

Ugggghhhhh….

Yesterday, during Sunday service, robbers threatened the church's security guard with a gun and stole an expensive spare tyre attached to a jeep. The victims, a missionary family, were worshipping at our church and had bought a short term team with them. And get this: someone busted the window of their jeep while they were having lunch after the service with same team. No prizes for guessing the sort of impression that was left on our visitors!

It’s been a horrible month in terms of robbery. Some of our youths were accosted and robbed of their cell phones. Another person was also threatened and robbed at gunpoint by thugs who raced away in a car. All this took place within the vicinity of the church grounds.

There was a time when some thieves avoided robbing worshippers because they respected the church. Those days are gone.

Come Lord Jesus! Maranatha

CROSS AND RESURRECTION IN SANTA CRUZ, BOLIVIA

HOLY WEEK IN THE CONGREGATION

We celebrated Holy Week – from Palm Sunday right through to Good Friday - with special night services. God’s word was shared in the daily Eucharist. One person surprised us by attending all the services! On Thursday we had a foot washing ceremony after the Eucharist; the lay leaders together with the Pastor led the way. Michelle put together a multi-media presentation for Good Friday and some interesting liturgical movements in a procession during in the Easter dawn service. The entire congregation had breakfast together over hot coffee and a simple ham sandwich.

Holy Week has taken on great significance in the congregation. Several years ago I told everyone that remembering and proclaiming Christ's death and resurrection during this period would make it highly inappropriate for anyone to go on vacations. It’s hard to contemplate one’s responsibility – our sins – in Christ’s suffering on the cross at a holiday resort. I heard someone say once, “If we cannot see our face nor hear our voice in the crowds screaming “crucify him”, then we do not understand Christ’s death nor the gospel”.

BOLIVIAN GOOD FRIDAY & EASTER

In Latin America, Good Friday is marked by processions and a diet of fish and vegetables. Almost no one eats red meat unless you're an evangelical Christian trying to prove a point.

A huge bloodied statue of “Christ” is laid to rest, like a corpse, in a transparent coffin and paraded around the town centre and neighbourhoods. It’s a very solemn affair, almost like a funeral, without a hint of His victory on the Cross. As an over reaction, local Christian churches at times avoid any sense of sobriety during Good Friday and tend to play down the significance of our Lord’s death. It leaves the impression of Christ's resurrection being the necessary solution to the failure of the Cross! Luther is probably suffering from heartburn in Paradise. Christian churches come together however at the huge soccer stadium, pray through Saturday night and recieve the dawn of Easter's promise with fireworks, singing, a message and dance items. They know how to pump up the atmosphere on Resurrection Sunday!!

THE CHALLENGE

It’s a challenge to soberly proclaim Christ’s victory on the cross without wallowing in defeatist grief; the joy of resurrection only makes sense within the ambit of redemptive suffering and the promise of Christ's new creation. In this respect some of the lyrics of the old hymns are particularly helpful (try modernizing some of the tunes!).

I tried to reduce my posts on the blog and cut down on internet activity during Holy Week. It was tough; I confess that I was not entirely successful. But the discipline was helpful. Praise The Lord!

PALM SUNDAY

THE COLLECT

APRIL Ist 2007

Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

5th SUNDAY IN LENT

THE COLLECT

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

CONFIRMATION!


Bishop Lyons paid us a visit and confirmed 12 new members. The parish has set a goal of 300 new members. The candidates above are from our extension centre, Bread Of Life.

The candidates below are from the mother church, Light Of The World.

EMPOWERED CLERGY!

Last Sunday was one of the most fulfilling experiences in my life. No, I did not do anything. Others did! The Pastor who took my place in the mother church preached a powerful sermon; many responded to the altar call. He led the service with lots of anointing. At the extension centre, the deacon led a retreat for the leaders of that small work; his leadership is growing in that part of the vineyard. Its great to see, those that you've trained personally, moving into positions of great responsability. Both of them however are struggling with their theological extension courses; its not easy to study and serve at the same time. Its my responsability to not only help them finish their studies but to also mentor them in their new roles.

My dream is to raise dozens of empowered clergy filled with the Holy Spirit; some of them will be bi-vocational. This of course is a great challenge in Bolivia. Meeting needs, sometimes very basic ones, go hand in hand with a solid formation that helps one to look beyond themselves in the third world (actually thats true everywhere). People need to be fed, led and taken care of before they can go beyond their own needs and see the challenge of serving others. Configurating all this within an Episcopal church government requires a long term strategy that does not cave in to immediate demands. We are raising leaders who can lead their flock within a larger ecclesiological dynamic. Character formation, honing minstry skills and learning the bible/theology are the three basic components of our leadership training programme. The current leadership have some ways to go before they can raise leaders and project a growing a "self supporting" work. Missionaries like myself come in at this point and provide the necessary back up leadership. How to empower leaders without cultiving dependancy amongst the locals and fostering paternalism among missioaries remains the hot button issue!

Pray For Us!

HANDS FULL ON SUNDAY!

A Youth Pastor Had The Opportunity But Did Not Share the Gospel With Che Guevara!

3 Ten Year Olds Sit Through A 40 Minute Adult Bible Teaching Without Fidgetting!

I had my hands full last Sunday. The Senior Clergy was on leave and I covered his duties which included lots of teaching, preaching, counselling and administrative stuff. The lay leaders were out in full force and did their part in ushering, preparing breakfast and helping distribute the wine and the wafers. We had a few newcomers. One of our members was weepy because she could not witness her son's marriage in the States; the US embassy had rejected her application for a visa (a very common outcome due to the illegal imigration)

As usual its the priestly task of preaching, teaching and celebrating the eucharist that gets my juices flowing. These days I try to not only evangelise through my messages but to also get christians to witness for Christ to non christians. Getting people fired up to do evangelism can be challenging, frustrating and rewarding. I closed my sermon with a story of a youth pastor who, although presented with many opportunities, did not share Christ with Che Guevara when Che was a youngster; the story is documented in a book written by Junior Zapata. Che Guevara has a hypnotic hold over the left and the dreamers in Bolivia (as well as in Latin America) partly because he was killed in the jungles of Bolivia. He is now part of the pantheon of heroes in Latin American. Zapata rhetorically asks, "What would have happened, to Latin America, if Guevara had become a Christian". The Lord brings people into our paths so that we can share Jesus with them.

At the nigth Service I taught on the Christian perspective of "Life After Death". I saw 3 ten year olds enter the sanctuary with their dad. He came to the night service because he could not come for the morning Eucharist. My heart sank because my teaching was going to be long and directed to adults. It was an interesting experience because the 10 year olds sat through the 40 minute exposition of the intermediate state, heavenly rewards, judgement, and the final restoration of creation without making a fuss or throwing a tantrum. Unbelievable. There were moments when they looked as if they were listening to the teaching! We have no Sunday School during the night services. One of the them actually responded to my prompting to read some of the Scripture passages aloud during the sermon.

After the service I went to buy a take-out for the family; I returned home, tired, and thankful for the day's experiences.

YOURS TRULY IS MADE ARCHDEACON


It was a hot and humid Sunday morning in Santa Cruz Bolivia. People were using their bulletins as a fan. We were celebrating the witness of the Saints departed last Sunday. ALL SAINTS occupies a special place in my heart. I pastored a church called ALL SAINTS in Singapore before my departure for Bolivia nearly 14 years ago.

I was ALSO ordained as a deacon (1995) and priested (1996) on the Sundays before ALL SAINTS DAY in the diocese of Singapore. By a strange coincidence (I stand corrected - there are no coincidences in the Kingdom!) I was recieved as Archdeacon on the Sunday before ALL SAINTS DAY of eastern Bolivia in the parish Christ Light Of The World, by the Bishop of Bolivia, Frank Lyons. Some of the diocesan clergy who had attended the standing committee meeting the day before, stayed behind for the Sunday service and prayed for me. I appreciated that show of support.

If someone had told me 20 years ago that I would be an Archdeacon in a South American diocese I would have written him off as crazy!!

A SOBERING EXPERIENCE!!

Sunday Service: Reacting To The Tragedy At Huanani

Last Sunday's service was a sobering experience; the tragic events at the mining camp which left 16 dead and nearly a hundred seriously injured were in the minds of many as we gathered for Sunday worship. People had been expecting a dangerous confrontation given the rising tensions within the country. No one however expected a flare-up between the miners - allies of the present government. There is a sense that this will only be the beginning of other acts of violence.

We stood in the breach and asked for forgiveness for the sins of violence and hatred; prayers were offered for the families of the loved ones. I preached on the beatitude, Blessed Are The Peacemakers For They Shall Be Called The Sons Of God". My heart ached for the Bolivian people as I preached; the eucharist drew us into His sacred presence and gave us the strength to face the future as peacemakers. Amongst some of of the stories of encouragement I used in the message were Archbishop's Robert Runcie's decision to have a service of reconciliation and peace after the Falklands War (much to the consternation of some British politicians who wanted a service of victory!) and the Commission of Justice And Reconciliation in South Africa which forgave those who confessed to violent crimes during rule of Apartheid. Sharing the peace during the service and sending God's people into the world with the assurance of His presence was especially meaningful.

Pray for us!

BACK IN ACTION!

Preaching…Counselling…Praying For The Sick To Be Healed

It Does'nt Get Any Better Than This (well almost)!!

Yesterday I returned to the pulpit and preached my heart out on Pleasing God. It was great to be back in the pulpit; I shared extensively my furlough experiences and tied them to the sermon’s main theme. These days I preach inductively. It’s lively and holds their attention. The 3 point pedagogic style just doesn’t cut it in Bolivia. After the sermon we confessed the Apostle’s creed, sang a warfare praise song, took the offertory, interceded and said the collect. We closed the service with a praise song that fired everyone up. God’s people are blessed as heralds in the benediction and sent to the world as instruments of His blessing!

Evangelical churches miss out on the power of confessing the creed. Confessing the Creed is proclaiming the works of God against the principalities and the powers; in the midst of nihilism, unbelief, agnosticism, God’s people confess the gift of their mighty faith… We Believe In One God…This is the faith that not only pleases God but also overcomes the world. Many came up for prayer and ministry…all wanting to please the Lord in their lives. Ahh…the joys of the ministry!

At night I visited a very committed couple in the church. They’re in charge of the marriage ministry and never fail to attend our courses. He is running an import and export business. We shared our lives over tea and soda biscuits. Their children are doing well in school. God’s people always need encouragement!! Yup..its great to be back in the front lines of ministry!!

PASTOR HANDS OUT MONEY DURING SERMON!

I woke up to a humid Sunday morning in Penang; thought it might be a good idea to check out one of the local independent charismatic churches. So of we went to the mall! Yup the congregation meets in a mall; the greeters were friendly; a Chinese lady dressed in yellow sari wrote my name on a sticker and stuck it on top of my shirt pocket. The praise and worship was led by the keyboardist; not surprisingly there was no liturgy, eucharist or the creed. The preacher was a bundle of energy; his sermon began with a video clip on Schindler’s list; the message, Engagement Not Isolation, was a cry to get involved in the social issues of the day. It was hard to leave the Sunday service without a deeper consciousness of the church’s role in society. Nothing other-worldly at all about the message. The application was wide ranging: from praying for the cabinet during their weekly meetings to exhorting the faithful to be part of a work team committed to cleaning up a dirty and neglected part of neighborhood. At the end of the sermon a few men responded in prayer to the sermon (great to see men praying).

Juices began to flow in the congregation when the Pastor gave out money to those who answered his questions correctly during the sermon. An elderly looking gentlemen won $RM50 for identifying a governing authority; he promptly donated it to a special fund for the construction of a lift which would help the disabled to have easy access to the church sanctuary.
Pastors handing out money to the congregation is'nt common place. Can’t imagine anything like this taking place in an Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran or Roman Church?

The pastor’s wife told me that her husband got the idea from an Australian speaker. “We just want to bless people”, she said. Some conservative minded folk would probably not rush to say amen. Giving people money for right anwers to questions related to the sermon puts a sword to the sentiment that churches only want money from their people.

I left the Sunday service surprised and challenged.