i joined while I was in poly under Pastor Jeff then transfered
to adult under Pastor Ben. the pastors are generally ok people, its
the care group/unit leaders (or the leaders wannabes) that
are jialat ones. As for sharing the jialatness, its ok, no need to
share bad things lah.
Even though this group of people are freaking me out, I
genuinely want to lead a good christian life, just not up to the
extreme level of this group of people, thats why i stayed on but I
really cannot stand those who claim that GOD spoke to them,
literally hearing GOD's voice in their heads.
tts good. in the end, just go back to the Word of God. as you
grow in love, you will know where you should be. =)
christianity isn't about doing - that's one of the flaws i
noticed in hope of god. they're very focused on works. remember
that you're covered in God's love and His grace. even if you don't
do anything, it wouldn't change the love God has for you. once you
are able to fully rest and trust unyieldingly on that love, you
will automatically do the works that God has planned for you.
nobody should force you to do anything before you are ready to
do it. God loves a cheerful giver. if you can't give cheerfully,
it's pointless and hypocritical already. (whether it's tithing,
offering or time or service)
and it's not true that you cannot have non-believer friends.
Jesus was always around sinners. He's called the friend of sinners.
But Jesus never forgotten about His heritage. He stood by His
principles even being with sinners. He will have good clean fun
with them, but when they are doing wrong things, He stood
unwaivering on His principles. You're the salt and light, so
remember to stand firm on your godly principles.
and it's again not true that christians must only talk about
things of christianity. it just happens that, christians who really
really love God, just talks about christianity. How you lead your
life.. is really just a reflection on how you love God.
i think it's a mistake that hope of god focuses on work first,
before the heart of the work. let me illustrate an example -
a christian who loves God, will goto church, but a
christian who goes to church may not love God.
as for songs. i mentioned it somewhere before. nothing wrong
with listening secular songs. there's no condemnation in christ,
ever. but again, it boils down to this principle - a
christian who loves God, will goto church, but a christian who goes
to church may not love God.
i prefer to listen to christian music, because it gives me peace
and joy. and the world's already so screwed up. full of hate,
frustration etc. i don't think i need to listen to more music about
unrequited love, getting dumped, sadness sorrow, and dispair.
again, it's a personal thing.
God's plan for you. an interesting point. i always believe that
God will not ask you to do something which you really have no
desire to do so, or you will hate doing. i notice in hope of god,
they like to tell their followers that God's plan is for them to do
this or that, and usually coincidently, there is a need in the
church. for example - there's a need for more ushers in church, so
they tell you that God's plan is for you to be an usher etc.
i'm not saying that God don't reveal His plan through people. I
definitely do think that it's possible, because it happened to me
regarding the salvation of my family. the prophecy came to pass, so
i definitely believe that God do speak to us through people too.
but one of the ways to know if you're actually doing God's will is
that as you serve, you will be cheerful, you will desire to serve
in a particular field. as you serve, you find a sense of purpose,
and even though it may be hard, you don't find it burdensome.
that's one of the signs you're at the right place doing the right
thing. again, this comes only when you have fully dwelled in God's
love, and you serve from that love. no point rushing into ministry
or something without being stable in that love first. you'll just
burn out and fall away.
and lastly, i don't think hope of god is a cult - but they
definitely are zealots. they're more like an army camp than a
family. if you doubt your place in this church, you can try
visiting other churches. i'm not encouraging you to church hop,
it's true that church hopping isn't beneficial. but if you're not
growing anyway, i think you should try other denomination. for me
i'm not really suited for churches like city harvest etc. i grow
better in a family church, where relationships are strong and
everyone is really like one big family.
so i believe God led me and my family to my current church -
even though hope of god for a period of time persistantly say that
i'm walking away from His plan etc.
oh, the biggest bullshit that hope of god dishes out regularly
is their "bgr is a sin" teaching. of course they don't say it
literally, but that's what they usually enforce.
