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e8320b81-7dd8-4ef7-9691-8f036a5d5614 Dr. Stephen Hsu, Rev. Dr. William Wan Christian Obedience at the Start of the Third Millennium 文章 〝Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice And to heed is better than the fat of rams〞1 Samuel 15:22. What was the most significant event in the second millennium? As a Christian, the answer has to be: Jesus did not come! The return of Jesus has been predicted by so many people who quote chapters and verses from the Bible. Over the years, many had identified natural and extra-natural disasters as signs of His imminent return. Some even conveniently linked His coming to the Y2K phobia! Well, the fact is: He has not returned! At least not yet! In the past millennium, many significant events had taken place: the separation of the state and the church, the Renaissance, the industrial revolution, the corruption of the Church, the Reformation, the invention of printing, the globalization of world economy and technology, the rise of Bill Gates and Microsoft, the Personal Computer revolution, the Internet, to name only the most significant. Human history and society have fundamentally changed. And society in the third millennium is going to be vastly different from the second millennium. But the two most striking things in my mind are: the phenomenal gain of knowledge (at a speed unprecedented in human history and the associated social and attitudinal changes) and the wide-spread circulation of the Bible. In the wake of this social upheaval, I ask myself: What is the impact on our spiritual lives? The answer seems to be that we are more lost and confused than ever before. Our emphasis has shifted from spiritual yearning to practical survival and pragmatism. Knowledge is no longer the privilege of the few and the private domain of the ruling class. But the fact that knowledge is widely available has not fundamentally changed our attitudes. Very few of us understand the overall picture that science has brought. In fact, too much knowledge has dulled the senses of our significance in the overall scheme of things. The greatest impact of knowledge lies in the social structural changes that technology has brought. The speed of change is the biggest problem. Modern industrialization and global competition have introduced extremely high mobility - instant communication, cultural adaptivity, and constant travel have become daily routines. Wealth creation happens at a break-neck speed. Bill Gates symbolizes as well as illustrates that one can rise to the top and create $100 billion dollars of wealth in just two decades without graduating from college. The whole society tends to focus on competition, wealth creation, and the〝be all that you can be〞type of philosophy. 〝Doing it my way〞becomes a social norm. Even the church buys into all these values by christianizing them into respectable theologies – the prosperity gospel of〝name it and claim it〞is nothing less than the gospel of success and feeling good. Where is God in all these? The fact that there can only be few winners and many more losers did not stop people from jumping into the fire. When they get roasted, they turn to religion to seek solace and peace. Religion and Christianity then become the〝losers’ domain〞in the hope that〝Spirit will slay them〞so that they will be winners again! The church now delights in〝celebrity testimonies〞, but the truth is that the world’s richest, the likes of Bill Gates and the Sultan of Brunei, do not attribute their success to the God of the Bible. Competitive pressures at the work place and the breakdown of traditional family values enforces isolation and loneliness. The yearning for love and community drive people to churches to seek support and friendship in an otherwise unfriendly world. This is very different from the days that people seek spiritual well being for its own sake from the church. In short, church has become another consumer market. People go to church to seek material and emotional well-being, more than because they fear the judgement of God for their sins! This leads to the question of what role the Bible plays in our spiritual well-being today. For most of the millennium, especially during the medieval period, the Bible was the sole possession of the priests. The Church interpreted, executed, and advised people of what is God’s will. When technology enabled the mass-production of the Bible and it became available to all, it releases the human spirit to seek God’s will on an individual basis. It also spurs reformation and ignites deep spiritual and theological developments that shape modern post-Reformation theology. At the same time, it produces cults, sects, Jamestown, and Waco. In a paradoxical manner, we are being thrust back into the dark medieval period insofar as our relationship with the Bible is concerned. Today, in spite of the widespread availability of the Bible, less Christians actually read the Bible for themselves on a daily basis. More and more are expecting their pastors to give them a vision or a word of prophecy for answers to their daily problems! In sum, these new-generation pastors are now wielding considerable power by their new priestly roles. They create a sense of dependency on them, not so much in their usurping the sole authority to interpret scriptures (as in the Medieval period), but in dispensing visions, dreams and prophecies in place of the scriptures! This phenomenon is all the more dangerously subversive as the people of God rapidly become more and more biblically illiterate, to the point where truth and error co-mingle in the church without anyone capable of knowing the difference! How then do we know the voice of God in the midst of spiritual confusion so that we may obey Him? If〝obedience is better than sacrifice, and to heed better than the fat of rams〞, then it behooves us to know the voice of God clearly. Is the voice of God to be found in pyschotherapy or motivational ideals? Is it to be found in entrepreneurial success, prosperity or a sense of well-being? Is it to be found in the〝feel-good〞worship experience where music whips us into a trance-state? Is it to be found in the pontifical pronouncements of pastors who claim to be receiving visions and prophecies every other day? I hope the answer to these questions, for those who care to think, is a resounding〝No!〞. The one central fundamental guideline should be the Bible and Jesus in the context of the historical, cultural, and spiritual teachings. Whenever we have an argument, we as Christians, should be able to go to the Bible to prayerfully seek God’s truth. And more importantly, we should be reading the Word for ourselves on a regular disciplined basis. We should be like the Christians in Berea who were of〝more noble character〞because, not only did they receive〝the message with great eagerness〞, they actually〝examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true〞(Acts 16:11). The Word of God is the true voice of the Lord, and unless we know the Scriptures, we are in danger of obeying other fallible voices than God’s! There is nothing magical about God’s voice to us today. It is to be found in the Bible in light of the completed work of Christ on the cross. In the last two millennia, the clergies of the medieval church tried to arrogate to themselves the sole right to interpret the Word. Men like Martin Luther resisted that, and a reformation took place. Today, new priests with fertile imaginations and entrepreneurial skills are again arrogating to themselves the sole right to mediate God’s Word through their subjective visions, dreams and prophesies. Once again we must rise to resist and perhaps begin a new reformation in the next millennium. Once again the battle-cry has to be〝Sola scriptura〞– Scriptures only. Christian obedience to the Word of God is the only way to reform the church that is rapidly returning to the darks ages of superstition and fear. < 上一篇 下一篇 >

9dea9e4f-1b59-4319-9cae-764653c108dc 胡志偉牧師 「方舟神話」解構下的教會生態（上） 文章 近週內由「臉簿」（Facebook）群組引發有關方舟電影及團體的討論，重點已不再是有關團體宣稱方舟的發現是否確實；乃是不少教內外人士對於有關團體長期以來慣用的手法表達「忍無可忍」，才有這麼熱烈的討論。 筆者倒想在此探討「方舟神話」反映當前教會生態的怪異現象。筆者所指「方舟神話」不是否定聖經記載方舟的真確性，乃指向現今擬似方舟發現的神話竟會在華人教會界大行其道。倘若有怎樣的讀者，就有怎樣的報章；我們有怎樣的信仰群體，就產生怎樣的事工神話！ 「方舟神話」在香港是怎樣打造的？正如「基督日報」事件（2007年發生，如今甚多人已忘掉）及其它新興群體一樣，這些事工皆有其認受性極高的異象與使命，所謂「出師有名」，且能針對與滿足某些群體的需要。本港教會市場一向開放，這些團體取得商業登記，就能開展其天國事業了。接著，這些團體同工主動拜訪與聯絡「名牧」與「名人」等，某人已作了我們事工的顧問或支持者；於是這些「名牧」與「名人」就會自動上釣。這些團體就會不斷以這些「名牧」與「名人」無遠弗屆地廣為宣傳，於是教會大多信徒相信這些「名牧」，也輕信了這些事工或產品。這些「事工欺瞞」循環正不斷在我們當中發生。 盲從權威 人是需要權威的，基督徒也不例外；但當今普遍的教會不重閱讀，不重思考；也有些教牧過度強調聖職的權威，不容挑戰。在不少討論「後現代」的教會場合中，大多教內學者與牧者一面倒批判「後現代文化」，任何否定絕對真理必是錯的，卻忘掉後現代角度也有助我們了解真相不一定非黑即白。當信徒大多盲從權威，信徒不會獨立自主地思考問題，判斷真偽，只會追隨所謂權威的意見。某程度今日教會走回馬丁路德前的教會生態，當時建制教會「好大喜功」，建造宏偉禮拜堂。當教會缺錢之時，教會生財之道是售賣「贖罪券」（等同現今所謂的福音產品），「他們相信，這些由聖人遺留下來的東西具有特殊的屬靈力量，任何人只要向它們敬拜，或觸摸它們，便可得著無限的賜福。」（梁家麟著《基督教會史略》，205頁）時光倒流，如今我們往主題公園、往看電影等消費活動，且有「名牧」與「名人」推介，何樂而不為？ 筆者相信聖經權威，也參考來自專業者的權威言論；卻不會盲從所謂「名牧」、「名人」的權威之言。當業餘人士登山之後，竟搖身一變成為考古發現的權威人士，普通常識告訴我們「不足為信」，這些只是商業綽頭而已！再看有關方舟發現的推介者，只是有關團體的友好人士或「共生利益者」，沒有任何公認的考古學者背書；我寧可以理性相信梁斐生博士與陳崇基牧師。 人的權威可用作參考，卻不是判斷真相的唯一標準；神賜予所有信徒理性思維與教牧一樣。當今教牧的挑戰是裝備信徒怎樣好好本於真理作出整全的思考，並非教牧誇耀其學位與學識，要求會眾接受其一人之言，奉為真理。當教會充斥著大量「不要問、只要信」的信徒，這絕非神對教會的心意！ （因工作量與篇幅，此文要分兩期刊登。） 轉載自香港教會網站：www.hkcrm.org.hk < 上一篇 下一篇 >

032bdbb6-2d34-4bde-a13f-a5a91260b382 黃文謙 四十九、尊崇的危險 文章 有一位美國來的弟兄經香港往北京沿途在不同的地方教導智慧理財的原則，他一到埗，便看到有短訊給他，有人問他是誰給他的，他說是他的上司給他的，內容是提醒他在東南亞地區要特別儆醒，免得墜入色情的誘惑，無論他到哪地方，都收到上司的提醒，他們互相提醒監視，免得失了見證。 在事奉中，也有兩位弟兄定時互通電話，問候生活的細節，他們互相關心的內容，大約有七項： 1) 與異性交往中有沒有越軌的行為 2) 在財務管理上有沒有誠信 3) 有否參閱色情刊物 4) 有定時研讀聖經、恆常禱告嗎？ 5) 有沒有在時間運用上以家庭為最優先 6) 有否執行向上帝的承諾 7) 有否向我說謊 美國Dallas神學院Howard Hendricks教授曾向242位在道德上違規而被逼離開事奉崗位的教會領袖作了一項調查，結果有一相同處，就是他們在事奉中沒有人提醒監視，因而在事奉中失落了，他們原本都是非常愛神愛人的弟兄姊妹，證明在事奉中要有同路人，不只與我們同行，也在生命歷程中互相提醒、鼓勵與監視。 人在位高權重時，若能有一知己提醒、鼓勵與監視可免闖下人生大禍，除了人為的監視之外，聖靈的提醒也極為重要！世上不知多少名成利就的人，在沒有人管轄下犯了不可回轉的人生大錯，願人都能接收上帝的管教，作祂順命的兒女，更能與聖徒相交，過得勝的人生。 願與您查看聖經的教導： 1) 不能單靠自己 撒母耳記上二章9節 9他必保護聖民的腳步，使惡人在黑暗中寂然不動；人都不能靠力量得勝。 羅馬書八章37節 37然而，靠著愛我們的主，在這一切的事上已經得勝有餘了。 詩篇四十四篇3節 3因為他們不是靠自己的刀劍得地土，也不是靠自己的膀臂得勝，乃是靠你的右手、你的膀臂，和你臉上的亮光，因為你喜悅他們。 2) 互相提醒、鼓勵，追求聖潔 希伯來書十二章14節 14你們要追求與眾人和睦，並要追求聖潔；非聖潔沒有人能見主。 歌羅西書三章12節 12所以，你們既是神的選民，聖潔蒙愛的人，就要存憐憫、恩慈、謙虛、溫柔、忍耐的心。 帖撒羅尼迦前書四章3-4節 3神的旨意就是要你們成為聖潔，遠避淫行； 4要你們各人曉得怎樣用聖潔、尊貴守著自己的身體。 哥林多前書十五章58節 58所以，我親愛的弟兄們，你們務要堅固，不可搖動，常常竭力多做主工；因為知道，你們的勞苦在主裡面不是徒然的。 3) 神揀選我們，使我們得救 帖撒羅尼迦後書二章13節 13主所愛的弟兄們哪，我們本該常為你們感謝神；因為他從起初揀選了你們，叫你們因信真道，又被聖靈感動，成為聖潔，能以得救。 4) 無可指摘，為主作見證 帖撒羅尼迦前書二章10節 10我們向你們信主的人，是何等聖潔、公義、無可指摘，有你們作見證，也有神作見證。 5) 謙卑靠主 詩篇三十一篇23節 23耶和華的聖民哪，你們都要愛他！耶和華保護誠實人，足足報應行事驕傲的人。 願您一生有同路人，互相支持、鼓勵、勸勉，永不失腳。 < 上一篇 下一篇 >

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