To Shian Wen

Shian, u noe...u're the only Christian from those years in St Andrews School with whom i'm still completely on the same wavelength with then as now..u and i, well, we always had a mind of our own huh? in church with questioning..in life with our refusal to toe the line for the sake of toe-ing the line..and that dogged persistence when we watched our friends fall away and by God's grace we just kept on..funny how the rebels like us remained christian when the conformists fell away huh?

when i think if it was onli me who had bad experiences growing up with pentecostals and charismatics and felt so alone..i visit yer blog or talk to ya and am reminded that someone did agree and still agrees about those excesses which we want to see corrected..and how the pple in that movement (back home at least) often got it so wrong..i realise that i'm not a lone voice calling for change and repentance..others, equally part of that movement or tradition,stand as fellow travellers on that road..who can know the heart of people who've seen brothers, sisters and frens from the same churches stray and fall away? you noe what it feels like my brother and friend..

oh, that God may grant us courage and persistence to be different and to Truly live holy..rather than act religious..n that we might have the courage to say we're not perfect, but that in God's grace and by His Spirit we are making progress..you inspire me to be a different kind of pentecostal/charismatic Shian..and i resolutely set my face to be a whole different kettle of fish from the kinds of Christians we encountered growing up..the time has come to stop being lambs with regard to true holiness, repentance and preaching of God's Word Shian...By God's grace let us be lions..Its time to battle with what is wrong, sinful, corrupt and utterly abhorent to the God of the Bible within the pentecostal/charismatic movement back home..even to the extent of nailing 95 Theses (after Martin Luther's example) to the doors of our churches..