Malaysia In The Grips of Spiritual Legalism

The whole heart of the issue facing Malaysia and cropping up in the recent controversial speech by associate professor Dr Ridhuan Tee Abdullah is NOT about Ridhuan Tee, his genes, character nor any religion as referred in Art Harun's blog article Compulsion in Islam.

The key word is COMPULSION and whether a human being (whether you are atheist, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or Jewish) can be forced to become more spiritual (or approved of God) if he/she adopts certain outward customs and practices.

The opposite of spirituality is compulsion/tyranny/force/legalism. The law can never make a person a better human being, it only ensures that sins of commission are not committed. Sins of omission (doing good, giving love, charity) can never be supervised or publicly enforced.

Only the most wonderful human acts are done outside the glare of organised religion. Becoming a Christian for me is an earth-shaking event but for my non-Christian neighbour or relative, it is nothing. What matters is the fruit of my faith. Am i a better neighbour, am i more considerate, more kind?

The Internet is the most effective conversion tool. It is free and it is fair for all to see: A tree is judged by its fruits. Just look at the fruits of all the religions of the world: you will quietly observe without any bias that for those religions whose faithful followers can be counted as 70%-80% radical (regardless whether they are passive or active radicals), violent, supportive of terrorists, hypocrites in all their personal lives (unequal rights between men and women) are the religions that preach to a false God/being. Whether for good or evil, the actions and lifestyle of believers advertise the tone, the inspiration and the power of their scriptures.

So the question of compulsion is already a sign of confusion about spiritual matters. The consequence (fruit) of confusion is hate, violence and murder.

We all know that the devil's aim is to kill, steal and destroy. Whether by guile (democratic means?) or by force, he will try to do it but God has already defeated the devil on his own terms so now he is after human beings. Which is why the world is in such political and economic turmoil.

The Pied Piper Comes A Calling On Europe - Who Will Pay ?

The world economy is slowing towards the edge of recession with the European debt crisis and the American economy growing at a snail's pace.

Investors' hopes are on China and the emerging markets to be the new engines of growth but these markets do not have the credentials nor the global political power to take over the reins of the global economy.

China is not only too weak in per capita purchasing power, it is not transparent and a highly fragmented society with little democracy or corporate governance.

The next credible candidate to take over the world economic dominance may be Europe if the Euro zone rises out of its current debt trap and transforms itself into a cohesive political union. This requires great political sacrifices, much negotiations between European powers and trickery of the electorate by the elite.

Like the Pied Piper, who came back to ask for his payment, there is a payment for the folly of the European Euro project, and the people who have to pay up are the debtor members as well as the citizens of the creditor nations. The alternative is what the Pied Piper warns: a doomsday Global Depression..but is it a real threat or a bluff? We shall find out in the next few months as we enter 2012.

In fact, the global economic mismanagement by policymakers and governments looks increasingly like a twisted Pied Piper tale where the Pied Piper (the global elite/market manipulator) trained the rats (the financial crisis of 2008) to listen to the music, let the rats out on purpose on the city of Hamelin and then duped the citizens into entering a deal with him. When the mayor could and would not pay up for the services rendered, the threat is to put all their children into debt (i.e. take them away into slavery - although in the story, the children were led into a paradise). 

Now the Pied Piper stands at the door of  world governments to ask for payment - first the European countries, then the US and Japan will be next. Will citizens of the developed world call his bluff and risk a major financial meltdown? Will world leaders respond with more money printing and more manipulated financial meltdowns (rats) to be carried out with the Piper's magic pipe? And his price is: total political and economic power in the hands of a global elite starting with the besieged European Union. In fact, a new global currency based on the controlled supply and consumption of energy (carbon currency) is being planned according to a study by Michael S. Coffman, Ph.D. and Kristie Pelletier. http://newswithviews.com/Coffman/mike129.htm

The Destiny and Prophecy for The Rainbow Nation

As I have been saying for many months since last year, Malaysia is at a major crossroads in a world that is shaken by all forms of disasters: political, religious, economic and geological.

Yet, we seem to have survived and prospered in relative peace...But there is a warning and this is what I have come across from a prophecy given by God to Pastor Julius Suubi and Pastor Francis Ameta from Kenya.

The Intercessors at the 24/7 Prayer House in Kenya have been fasting and praying for Malaysia since the 5 January, 2010 for 40 days. There was a very, very strong burden for Malaysia and during their intercession there was much weeping and crying out for this nation.

The following is the message they received from the Lord for Malaysia:

Malaysia is at a very important crossroads. The Lord says that He has been so faithful to the nation of Malaysia. He has protected Malaysia in 3 areas:

1. The principalities over Malaysia have tried to cause racial dissension. Feelings were stirred in the hearts of the people to rise up for destruction but because of God’s grace, He has prevented this destruction from happening.

2. God has protected Malaysia from natural calamities when the surrounding regions have been hit by such disasters.

3. God has protected the church. Seeing that you are in a Muslim land, the church has a high measure of freedom thus far. Many times the enemy has tried to come up to close in on the church but God has not permitted it.

God’s faithfulness and favor towards Malaysia is not because the Church has been praying. In fact, the Church in Malaysia has entered into a comfort zone. The Church is so contented and so comfortable and in slumber. There is prayerlessness in the church and she is not carrying the burden that God has for the “cousins” in the land. Most of the prayers that take place in the churches are personal prayers but not a burden for the nation and the lost.

Warning from the Lord:

The veil of protection over Malaysia is slowly giving way over this land.

The heavens over Malaysia have already begun to close.

The burning of the churches is but a tip of the ice-berg of what the enemy is wanting to do over this nation. There is a looming judgment waiting to take place over this land if intercessors do not arise.

Teaching on Abraham pleading for Sodom & Gomorrah by Pr Julius Suubi

Abraham prayed for Sodom and Gomorrah but his prayers could not deliver the cities. His prayers alone could not prevent the judgment of God upon the cities. Abraham was not living in Sodom & Gomorrah. The people of the land themselves need to arise to intercede for their own land. Unfortunately, there was no one in the land who took up the burden to pray for their cities and the cities were destroyed.

Application to Malaysia:

Only the prayers of the people in Malaysia can deliver their land. This burden has to be taken up by the Malaysians themselves. They have to arise to pray for their land, cry out to God, influence the people and to tell them that the nation is at an important crossroads. Tell the people that the next 5 years is so very important. They either arise to a very, very powerful revival or slide in the other way.

God’s will is for Malaysia to rise up to her destiny (being a “Rainbow Nation”) and for a great revival to sweep through this land. Our brothers from other nations are just here to help us “PUSH”. They are like “midwives” to help the Malaysian Church push until they see the baby born (the destiny of Malaysia). The Malaysian Church has to pray and intercede to open the heavens over Malaysia. To see revival, we need the heavens to be open. Prayer will open the heavens. The enemy will try to hinder our prayers but we must persevere and pray until we see the revival.

PROPHETIC WORD CONCERNING PENANG, MALAYSIA

RELEASED BY PR JULIUS SUUBI DURING THE SCHOOL OF PRAYER AT TRINITY METHODIST CHURCH, PENANG

Penang is like the umbilical cord. Just as an umbilical cord supplies nourishment to the baby, Penang provides life to sow prayer and seeds for the revival in Malaysia. The baby about to be born is the revival that God has planned for the nation. The Lord is asking the Church in Penang, “Are you willing to pay the price for the revival to come?”

Penang is also like the church in Pergamum where it was mentioned that the “seat of Satan” was there in the city. Penang has attracted the enemy to this place. The Lord wants to raise up prayer warriors in this city to stand in the gap.

Teaching on Altars by Pr Julius Suubi

In times of judgment, people were to raise up altars to reverse the effects, to bring about healing for the land. There are 4 altars that need to be raised up at a time like this:

1. Personal altar: We are the temple of the Holy Spirit for the Holy Spirit indwells us. We need to activate our personal altar. We need to pray everyday. Develop your personal prayer life.

Pray at least one hour a day. Jesus asked his disciples, “Could you not tarry with me one hour?”

2. Family altar: Husband, wife, children need to gather together to pray. We need to establish the family altar. Exercise authority over your household in problem areas. When men break faith with their wives, there is no family altar and this has great impact upon the children (Malachi 2:13-16). Family prayers will affect your neighbours and neigbourhood as well.

3. Church altar: My house shall be called a House of Prayer for all nations (Isaiah 56:7). The strength of the church is not measured by how many members, how much money or how powerful the pastor is. It is measured by how strong the prayer life of the individuals in the church. Very few people at the prayer meetings, a common sight in our churches.

Prayer meeting is for everyone, not just certain groups of people.

God wants to establish the Territorial Church (territorial altar) in the city to impact the city. There needs to be a unity among the churches in the area or city. The territorial church can deal with the principality over the area and thus have great impact over the area or city.

If all cities have territorial altars then every city will begin to experience transformation.

4. National altar: People from the various territories or regions that have set up their altars will need to gather together to form the national altar. The prayers that rise from the national altar will greatly impact the nation.

Finally, let’s take heed of God’s Word concerning watchmen who are not doing the work of watchmen.

God has called us to be watchmen on the wall, to warn the people of impending judgment or danger. Let us not be like the watchmen as described in Isaiah 56:9-12. If we are like watchmen who are blind and dogs that cannot bark or shepherds who lack understanding, then the “beasts of the field…… the beast of the forest” will come and devour our land! Take heed, Church in Malaysia!!!! The Lord has spoken through his prophets (Amos 3:7).

Sarawak Christians Need to Relook At The Borderline Between State & Religion

Ideally, as one Sarawak colleague remarked to me once, state and religion should be kept separate. In other words, what is of the world should remain in the world and what is of God should remain in God’s house.

In practise and in the case of Sarawak, the dividing line can no longer hold because the state has encroached on the religious values and integrity of the church (which is not an association but the whole body of Christians in Malaysia and the world community). This is evident in the two-state policy of the government on the Bahasa Malaysia bibles and Allah issue.

What should Christians do and does the behaviour/campaigns of Christian politicians (on both sides of the party line) in this election reflect the character of our Lord Jesus Christ? I am sure our Creator in Heaven is watching very closely as the protagonists argue and plead their case to the people of Sarawak.

Sarawakians have enjoyed freedom of religious worship for decades and I can see so many churches flourishing there. They have enjoyed this privilege while the persecution of the church and the gospel is happening at a very intense rate in the Peninsular and around the world (compare how much religious freedom is granted to Christians in Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, India etc versus Peninsular Malaysia. China is in a class of its own in the persecution index). 

But will the outcome of the 16th April elections change the perspective of Sarawak Christians about their position in Malaysia? Will it completely change their view (which in many ways is Biblically correct) that the worldly and the divine should remain separate?

These are hard issues which will engage the entire nation and the body of Christ for years to come. As Christians, we are the spiritual shepherds of this nation and we have to wake up to our responsibilities in this present end times: there will be increasing worldliness and political tensions on the one hand while a call for greater spirituality and blessings from God will also intensify on the other hand.

God is shaking the nations to wake us up and we must not remain indifferent and complacent.

So where shall we stand as Malaysian Christians? In the midst of the tranquility and natural beauty of Sarawak, a great spiritual battle has started.

We will do the nation a great favour by continuing this dialogue with our non-Christian neighbors and fellow citizens. In the process, we must remember to remind ourselves that our faith in the goodness and love of God goes beyond politics and beyond casting a vote in the ballot box. So in our prayers, when we ask God for justice and righteousness to prevail in the land, it is very much the Kingdom of God that we are seeking to be established on earth, not according to our own designs/will but God’s perfect will.

Malaysia At Spiritual Cross Roads Amidst Political Deceptions Locally & Globally

As Malaysia prepares for the 13th General Election coming right after the Sarawak state election, the political struggle that is being fought between the incumbent state government party and the Opposition parties in Sawarak threatens to overshadow the larger moral issues facing the nation.

 Do Malaysians, political experts, bloggers and man-in-the-street, know that we are heading towards the end of the age? Do we think we are immune from the earthquakes/tsunamis that hit Japan and other countries of the world? What do these natural disasters which wipe out thousands of lives mean for the people of Malaysia apart from taking precautions not to eat Japanese food or review our nuclear plans ?

The sins of the people of Malaysia are evident: one the one hand, we have corrupted politicians who have made themselves wealthy and powerful at the expense of the people and on the other hand, we have the yet-to-be-tested politicians in the Opposition who try to take power away from the corrupt. For the latter, the road to Putrajaya seems to be the ultimate solution to Malaysia's woes.

What precisely are the sins committed by this nation? Arrogance and self-promotion of our own communities, racial divisions and pride, pornography, adultery, divorce, hypocrisy at all levels and the complacency of the general citizens who only care for their own short-term interests. i.e. their rice bowls.

Will our rice bowls be taken away from us in the next global economic tsunami despite the fact that we console ourselves that Malaysia is blessed with oil and commodities? The deforestation of Sarawak, the mistreatment of the poor and enrichment of crony capitalists there is a testimony of our rape of natural resources and the indigenous people that God planted there.

The only way the nation can avert the divine judgement of God on this nation as He is indeed shaking each nation throughout the world (after Japan, the next natural disaster could be in the Ring of Fire) is by repenting of our sins and turning our eyes, our hearts to God. Therefore, Malaysians, especially Christians, should be careful not to put their faiths in new or existing political leaders to bring justice and righteousness to the nation.

And the churches of the country, as will be the case in Sawarak on 16th April, will play a major role in turning the nation to repentance of our sins, praying to God for mercy and forgiveness of our self-serving life-styles.

Indeed, the Lord Jesus is coming soon and the rapid deterioration of the current world order is happening before our very eyes on TV and the daily news. (Please do read my previous post Troubles in the Middle East and What It Means To Us)

Face the Spiritual Challenges First, then the rest will follow

Over the land of Sarawak, there is what the Christians call a principality that tries to rule over the land and its people.

We are not called to engage in spiritual warfare with flesh and blood (i.e. mankind) but with principalities who often portray themselves (through their human subjects) as kings of the land.

Once you pull down these principalities thru prayer, repentance for the sins committed against the land and declaring that Jesus is the King of Kings, you will deal the biggest blow to the enemy. Then perhaps we may see a real change in the land come 16th April 2011.

So it is important for the opposing political candidates and voters to be courteous and loving to each other. Let us not demonise Taib no matter how much he is vilified by certain people. Let us show love and mercy while praying hard for God's justice to be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Early this year, tyrants and dictators have fallen in Tunisia and Egypt and even the principality of Sendai was shaken. Sarawak’s economic and social problems are far from Tunisia and Egypt and God has blessed this land with peace and abundant resources (albeit diminishing). But being the first state to usher in the next general elections, I think this state is key to Malaysia’s spiritual transformation.

Trouble in The Middle East & What It Means To Us

We are indeed living in times of great global turmoil. First the global economic crisis started in October 2008, starting with the U.S. and then reverberating throughout the world as if each country's economy had an implosion: Spain, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, etc. Depending on the level of debt and extent of asset bubbles, no nation was spared the effects of the global economic meltdown. Then two years later we see political unrest and wars in the Middle East and North Africa starting in late 2010.

On 11th March 2011, a major earthquake of 8.9 kw hit Japan's northeast region, killing more than 10,000 people with the same number missing.

The word that comes into my mind is global cataclysms (deluge, any catastrophic geological phenomenon, volcanic eruption, earthquake, any large-scale disaster).

While I am not surprised by these events based on Biblical prophecy, the entire sequence of events are starting to make sense from the message given by God to Kenyan prophet Dr David Edward Owuor. 

On 25th March 2011, he gave an audio sermon in Manila at a pastors' conference. Listen to it and you will be amazed to see how the final chapter of the Bible, Revelation, reveals the timeline of this current age.

Dr Owuor, who has a strong track record in accurately predicting global calamities, said that we are seeing Biblical prophecy unfold in real time in our newspapers and television screens: wars and turmoil in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and earthquakes in Chile, Haiti, New Zealand (all prophesied by him months in advance) and Japan.

To find out the mystery of what is happening in the Middle East (no, its not a CIA or Mossad plot), you need to have a full open mind (especially non-Christians) to connect what is revealed by Jesus in the Bible (Mathew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21 and Revelation 6) to current events in the world today. We are living on borrowed time and the end of this age will have eternal impact on all our lives.

No nation or people on earth is spared for the Word of God is true and abiding. The release of the 4th rider on the pale horse (prophecied by Dr Owuor on July 29th 2009 in Johannesburg) early this year shows we have entered an era of global cataclysm where one fourth of mankind will perish through war, famine, plague and disease.

In fact, the political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa may be a prelude to a realignment of the nations surrounding Israel. Will the new rulers of these nations change their stance towards Israel ? Will they be closer or further away in their relations with God's remnant people ? Whatever the outcome, every nation will play a part in the final realignment of nations vis-a-vis Israel in the coming days. Praise God that His ways are mysterious and wonderful even as He is the same, yesterday, today and tommorow.

Note: In Revelation Chapter 6, the 4th horseman of the Apocalpyse emerges when Jesus Christ opens the fourth seal of the secret scroll (out of seven seals) and this horseman was captured on Euronews (MSNBC, CNN, YouTube) riding among the rioters in Egypt on 3rd February 2011. You can see the transparent pale, light green rider at the end of the video. (Some skeptics speculate that it is a hoax or flare of the lens, but who on Euronews would have contrived such an elaborate CGI hoax?). The fact that Egypt's revolution was relatively bloodless is due to the prayers of the 2010 Open Heavens Prophetic Conference held in Egypt where 550 intercessors prayed for Egypt. However, Libya is now seeing bloodshed of the 4th horseman as it was not prayed for in the conference.

Waiting for The City That Is to Come

The devastation of the Sendai earthquake/tsunami has stirred deep feelings of sorrow, empathy and fear in the hearts of many throughout the world. How this tragedy, which is now threatening to turn into a nuclear meltdown, will unravel and what it means for the Japanese people is certainly going to affect not only the economy of the world (Japan is the 3rd largest economy and the second largest consumer market after the US), but also our everyday lives.

Earthquakes are occurring with increasing frequency in recent years and this acceleration in natural disasters is attributed to a wide range of factors from global warming to man's pollution of the earth. The Bible quotes Jesus as saying that these are the signs of the end times when God returns to earth to rescue his bride (the church) from the tribulations (escalation of human violence and natural calamities) and his final reappearance to battle the Antichrist and the armies of the world in what is called the Apocalypse.

In Matthew 24 verse 7, Jesus said: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places."

Looking at the pictures and videos of devastation in Japan, I pray that the Japanese can turn to the one true God, the Lord Jesus in their hour of darkness and loss. Already, the admirable response of the Japanese people in the wake of the disaster may be a sign that Japan may see a revival if not in spirit, then in her national psyche after prolonged years of economic and spiritual stagnation. For God has said:

"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

In Hebrews 13, the apostle Paul wrote:"The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here, we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come."

Yes, the whole earth groans for the new earth to be borned where the eternal city of God will descend and crown the new world. Deep in the hearts of mankind, whether Christian believers or non-believers, we are seeking for an eternal peace, a rock of stability where there is no death, no tears, no earthquakes and tsunamis to shake our lives. That city is the city that is to come. Amen.

An Honest Man Digging Through A Mountain Called Malaysia

For the first time, I attended the ETP (Economic Transformation Program) briefing on 19 January at Meridien Hotel by Senator Datuk Seri Idris Jala, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department cum Chief Executive Officer of Pemandu. After two hours, I find him to be quite an impressive man who appears to be honest, smart and committed in driving through the economic transformation program.

... However, if there is one cartoon metaphor that is most accurate in depicting Idris Jala's situation (and I will commission this to some cartoonists if I have not the time to draw it myself), it is this:

With a pick and axe, Senator Jala is digging laboriously a tunnel through a huge dark mountain called Malaysia. Other adjacent mountains like China, Singapore, India also have tunnels but they have already been built and cars are zooming through them at tremendous speed.

At Senator Jala's feet are 4 dynamites which he has forgotten/refused to use. These dynamites are labelled: Abolish NEP, Abolish Cronyism, Bring Back Science and Maths in English, Prosecute and Charge Corrupted Ministers/Tycoons.

The tunnel he hopes to complete is only one third of the actual mountain underpass and it stops at a sign: 2020 ETP target.

Conclusion: He and the PM need to be more efficient and use those dynamites to blow up the way for the enitre tunnel. If he does not hurry and thinks he has until 2020 to finish, other countries like Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, etc will reach their goals faster than Malaysia. All the stated ETP projects may well create the 3.3 million jobs that is estimated by Pemandu. But these jobs may be largely project-dependent (construction) jobs and not long-term, self-sustainable jobs without the requisite insitutional reforms that Malaysia deeply needs.

Unless he embarks on picking the low hanging fruit and removes the heavy shackles burdening Malaysia, we may be truly stuck in the middle income/half-way tunnel hole. And this mountain underpass is the only hope not only for the economy but for the country and its people.

Real Public Servant-Leaders versus Career Politicians

The ratio between real public-servant leaders who truly serve the well-being of the people and self-serving career politicians who represent the interests of a select group of power interests is 5:95 in Asia.

Globally, the ratio improves to 10:90. Between real public servants and career politicians, there is a huge spectrum starting with category A to E.

A. Leaders who are public servants first, politicians second: Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Ronald Reagan, Yudhoyono (work-in-progress).

B. Leaders who are politicians first, public servants second: Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Anwar (the once enigmatic Opposition leader who recently seems to have trouble reinventing his image beyond an Opposition leader with a troubled frown), Deng Hsiao Peng (the only Chinese leader who fell from category A after his role in the Tiananmen massacre), Lee Kuan Yew (who, according to wiki leaks, cleverly distanced himself and Singaporean politicians by calling some Malaysian politicians opportunists and corrupt).

C. Leaders who are good at fooling the public that they are public servants first: Obama (the guy who talked his way into winning a Nobel peace prize without creating peace), Putin (at least to the Russians), Hu Jintao (another leader in a long line of beneficiaries of Deng's pro-capitalism reforms and Chinese nationalism).

D. Leaders who are servants of their inflated egos and  power-driven passions: Mao, Stalin, Hitler, Mugabi, the Iranian demogogue Ahmadinejad, the Burmese generals, the North Korean Kim dynasty.

E. Leaders who try to get into the categories above but will likely be just a footnote in history: Abdullah Badawi (whose real achievement was that he managed to project a nice guy image and keep the extremists in check), Najib (depends mostly on whether he can walk the talk with the social and economic reforms outlined in the New Economic Model, failing which he will be just another face among mediocre career politicians).

Jokes aside, I am convinced there is a huge demand for real public-servant leaders in Asia in view of (a) the acute shortage in supply of such leaders currently and historically (b) Asia's rising prominence in the global economy.

This is why I will offer to my two children, the option of a new career choice: visionary economist prophets for the nations. These prophets will advise kings and presidents on the course and destinies of their nations. Not for the money, the status or the power but primarily because there is a true need for such advisors of leaders to navigate through the treacherous political and economic convulsions of the 21st century.

I can imagine parents asking if these are risky professions: the answer is that there will be no future at all if national leaders are advised by the wrong people. Not only are we faced with economic ruin but devastating earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, famines if nations do not quickly align themselves with God's divine destiny.

Incidentally, after the world economy was resuscitated and went through critical turning points in 2010, I believe we have entered a new era of economic realignments and paradoxes in 2011: countries will be facing social chaos and food shortages while other countries will thrive in stability and prosperity. This widening chasm between the afflicted and the fortunate will sow the seeds of hate among those who refuse to learn from their errors and healing among those who are willing to turn back from their destructive economic, politicial habits.

(In fact, these ideas suggest a research project which I will explore in the coming months on raising our children for the prophetic calling of nations.)