Pastor Chris Rosebrough has organized a sort of online memorial service for Pastor Ken Silva, who had passed on to the presence of the Lord he loves. The bulletin can be found here.
[P.S.: I am not necessarily endorsing online services, just posting this as something that has occurred.]
Pastor Ken Silva has recently passed away. Pastor Ken was the head of Apprising Ministries and was a key person in the development of the modern discernment ministries, specifically as he had taken over Christian Research Network (CRN) It was probably in the years 2006 to 2007 that discernment ministries were all the rage on the Internet. Pastor Ken was right in the thick of it, even earning a threat of legal action from Richard Abanes against his at-that-time IP server for his article on him.
It was during that time that I was struggling through issues relating to Rick Warren, Evangelicalism, and what had happened in the church I grew up in. CRN became the news I was reading concerning things in the Christian world. It was rather a tumultuous time for me spiritually and emotionally, and in the midst of the fog, I found CRN (and before that its predecessor Ingrid Schlueter's blog A Slice of Laodicea) to be a beacon for these uncertain times. For growth in the knowledge of God's Word, I have books like Robert Reymond's A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, while I was helped in the apologetic front by people like Dr. James R. White of Alpha and Omega Ministries and his Dividing Line podcast, and regarding philosophical issues I was introduced to the works of Gordon H. Clark. Nevertheless, ministries like Pastor Ken's Apprising Ministries sounded the clarion call, which I must say was not present before. I liaised with Pastor Ken primarily via email and it was a fruitful discussion. Later on, he invited me on as a contributor to CRN and I (cross)-posted some articles there.
Naturally, some people claim the discernment label who used it as a way to be mean and nasty. Nonetheless, the way I see it, the core centered on CRN are fine. Being on the frontline in some sense does invite controversy, and I am not without guilt in the way I might have sometimes conveyed my thoughts. I get to know various people, some of whom have become my friends.
Naturally, I wouldn't say that discernment ministries like CRN have not at times sin. We are all sinners saved by grace yet struggling everyday to mortify the old man. Pastor Ken has been a great mentor during the early times. As time passes, he began to suffer from an illness, presumably the same one that took his life, and slowly retire from the scene. As for me, I was drifting away from the discernment circles. Don't get me wrong. I have benefited from the clarion call they have sounded, which is refreshing compared to the mess of PC-correctness and little conviction, if any, found in Evangelicalism (because perhaps they probably do not believe what they claim to believe). But discernment ministries in general tend towards Fundamentalism, complete with Dispensationalism and a low view of the Church. It was about the time of my last post when I realized that my interests were diverging from that held to especially by the then-editor Erin Benzinger. A submitted article was denied publishing, as although it was still about the problems in the church, I had critiqued the issue from the viewpoint of the doctrine of the church. I am fine with that disagreement, yet it cemented my drift away from the mainstream of discernment ministries.
Pastor Ken and I traded emails rather infrequently, and I must say that I am sorry that I have not met him in person; flying to New Hampshire does require time and money. While many people, especially those in mainstream Evangelicalism, do not treasure him, I am sure he has been a great help to many. Pastor Ken is now in the presence of Christ our Lord, and may he enjoy his reward free from pain and illness, and that God will get the glory through Pastor Ken's life work and testimony.
I have just created a new blog, entitled Reformed Theology Simplified, that aims to expound Reformed theology in a simple manner. The current series which I have entitled pre-prolegomena will be cross-posted to that blog, but further posts to that effect will be posted on that blog only.
PCA pastor Jason Stellman is in the process of raising funds for the prosecution of Federal Visionist Peter Leithart, with the intent to purge at least some of the Federal Vision from the PCA. If anyone desires to contribute to this fund, please make checks payable to:
Exile Presbyterian Church
PMB 132
14241 Woodinville-Duvall Rd.
Woodinville, WA, 98072
Attn: Prosecution Fund
[HT: God's Hammer]
Frank Turk (aka centuri0n) has issued a debate challenge with regards to my response to his open letter. It seems that his main concern with Horton is "pastoral" not "theological" (which is revealing), so we will leave it at that and go on to one of the main issues betwen us.
The thesis to be debated is:
It is necessary for Christians to separate from false churches that do not proclaim the Gospel and the essentials of the Faith.
Affirmative: Daniel Chew; Negative: Frank Turk
The format will be as follows:
The debate would be posted both here and on Turk's debate blog site here.
This should be an interesting debate.
I would be away on a holiday for some time during which all comments would be moderated.
In the meantime, do check out Dr. Bob Godfrey's excellent article entitled Real Calvinism: A Head and Heart Religion.
The CREDO 500 blog conference is just days away now. My co-organizer and the founder of this conference Jonah Tang has written a short succinct introduction to this upcoming two months blog conference, which can be read here.
For those of us who are either not fluent enough in Chinese, those who prefer to read it in English, and those who do not read Chinese, I have spend some time translating the text, as we wish to make this conference by and large available to non-Chinese speakers as well. Without further to do, here is my translation, which is also posted on the blog site itself here:
INTRODUCTION:
Knowing and glorifying God, whom John Calvin served
by Jonah Tang
trans. by Daniel Chew
Name and beginning
On July the 10th 2009, Christians in the Reformed tradition around the world gathered in the city of Geneva, Switzerland, to commemorate the 500th anniversary (1509-2009) of the birth of the French Reformer John Calvin, breathing new life into the embers in this once thriving spiritual center of the Reformation. Although not everyone had the opportunity to attend this ceremony, churches around the world have resounded with various events to be held in remembrance of this iconic figure of the Reformation era.
The CREDO 500 blog conference is initiated by this present author and co-organized together with brother Daniel Chew, with Dr. Stephen Chan (陈佐人), Dr. Zhi Yong Wang (王志勇) and Dr. Keng Ann Lee (李健安) graciously agreeing to be the project’s guides and advisers. On the one hand, the weak faith of many suffer from the onslaught of postmodernism and the rapid growth of all manner of heresies, while on the other, the 21st century is witnessing the rapid increase in the Church as many ethnic Chinese are coming to the Lord . In order to provide a platform for the exchange of ideas in light of these facts, and in the hope of continuing the proclamation and development of Calvinist theology and the rich heritage of the Reformed tradition, this conference has been organized.
The original meaning of the word in the Latin, “Credo”, is “I believe”. “CREDO 500” get its meaning from the first five centuries of the early church, linked together with the Reformation and Post-Reformation era of the recent five centuries to make up a pair of two five centuries of faith, which can be termed as the “ecumenical Reformed faith and tradition”. At this blog, the CREDO motif is developed further as the acronym for “Chinese Reformed Evangelical Discussion Online”, with the goal of planting the Reformed faith in the new generation of Chinese Evangelicals. It is hoped that the strict confessionalism and godly piety of the 16th and 17th century Reformers and the English Puritans, together with the faithful witness of the Apostles and the believers of all ages, will find new adherents. Utilizing the ability of the Internet to flatten the world, believers are enabled to interact and learn together this Christian historical orthodox faith. For unless we know and understand the Reformation and its necessity and beginning, we will never be able to be one substantive household of faith founded on the Truth of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Objective and Purpose
This author strongly believes that the influence of Calvin did not end with the Modern and Western world, but continues to impact and transform the Post-modern and Chinese-speaking world. We are honored to be able to invite Christians around the world from different denominations and backgrounds: be they scholars, pastors, researchers and theologians, to contribute to this blog conference and engage in interaction and mutual guidance on various technical topics. The conference would be done in the following format: Every other day a paper would be uploaded together with its attendant response, after which all and sundry are invited to actively participate in the discussions on that paper. All are invited to affirm, ask for further clarification or suggest points for more thought and reflection, with regards to the content and manner of writing of any of the papers. We eagerly anticipate creative engagements and constructive responses, to aid the authors in correcting and improving their articles.
In principle, all discussions are to be purely factual and objective. However, all attendees are to abide by the proper attitude of glorifying God. In expressing one’s thoughts and opinions, one is not to compromise on the foundational truths, but also to respect differences of opinions over minor points of doctrine. In all things, we are to be loving and speak words of edification to build up others. In this light, this author desires and exhorts the practice of the following beliefs and principles of Reformed orthodoxy: 1) To be based on the Bible, 2) To be Christ-centered, 3) with the sole aim of glorifying the triune God, 4) to be done for the good of the Church. These are also the desired result for the conference: that through studying the legacy of John Calvin, we may glorify God, whom Calvin served.
The theme of this blog conference is “Calvin to the modern Chinese Churches” 「从加尔文看今日华人教会」. We have collected a total of 20 papers to be spit into two sections, the first being “The legacy of Reformed Theology” and the second being “The Reformation and John Calvin”. Lord willing, we plan to publish the results of this conference in a volume, which is to be separately published in English and Chinese. Listed below in the next section are the short biographies of the authors and reviewers of the papers for this conference.
Lastly, we would like to express our appreciation to all who have contributed to this conference in one way or another. We look forward to this historical blog conference, and hope it will provoke thought to edify the Chinese churches, to bring about a unity between the intellect and the spirit, and to narrow the distance we have from our Reformed forefathers such that we are connected to our past. Amen.
[NOTE: I have not included the bio in this post because I have not translated them. I will include that in a later post]
During my trip to Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia over the weekend, I met up with Pastor Jonah Tang to discuss various issues, especially the upcoming CREDO (Chinese Reformed Evangelical Discussion Online) 500 blog conference to be held over the months of September and October. With less than a month left, and many things still to be completed, I would be focusing my energies on that task, thus leaving little time for anything else. This blog therefore would be less frequently updated especially in this month.
With this, here is the latest announcement (translated) on this upcoming CREDO500 blog conference:
The schedule of the 500th Calvin anniversary blog conference has been tentatively proposed. The 19 articles we have received for the conference will be distributed into two groups — the first group having the theme 'The legacy (lit. continuance) of Reformed theology', and the second having the theme 'The Reformation and John Calvin (lit. The Reformation era's John Calvin)'. The conference will now be prolonged till October 2009, with the intention of giving at least two days for discussing each article, and having a rest from our discussion on the Lord's Day (Sunday).
The names of our contributors have been mostly finalized, barring unforeseeable last minute changes. Also, a new article by Daniel Chew analyzing the 'New Evangelical Calvinism' is specially included. [Note: The inclusion was suggested by Pastor Jonah, not me - DHC]. The names of the reviewers on the other hand would be confirmed and listed in the near future. All reviewers are to hand in their reviews before 1st Sept. In the event that more time is needed, please get back to us at credo500@gmail.com.
The Chinese section of the conference would be headed by Pastor Jonah Tang, while the English section would be headed by Daniel Chew. Publication wise, both articles and reviews would be separately published - one volume in Chinese and a separate volume in English, for the convenience of our Chinese and English readers. [Note: A mixed language volume would only be accessible to readers of both English and Chinese, which is not ideal - DHC]. It is hoped that we would be able to publish the articles in a book by the end of this year; all who desire to help out in the English to Chinese translation work are welcome to contact us.
Part I: The legacy of Reformed Theology (7th - 28th Sept 2009)
I. Scripture and Tradition
Sept 7th Mejlina Tjoa, Scripture and Tradition (Response: To be confirmed)
Sept 9th J.J Lim, The Place and Necessity of Creeds and Confessions in The Modern World (Response: To be confirmed)
II. Scripture and Theology
Sept 11st Daniel Chin Choy Wong, An Analysis and Critique of Signs and Wonders (Response: Daniel Chew)
Sept 14th David Chong, Evaluate the "New Perspective" on Paul's Exposition of the Doctrine of Justification by faith alone (Response: Tsun-En Lu)
III. Scripture and Counseling
Sept 16th Gideon Teo, The Tradition of Counseling and Physiology through the eyes of Richard Baxter and Archibald Alexander (Response: Andrew Teo)
Sept 18th Andrew Teo, Reclaiming The Biblical Care of Souls in The Body of Christ (Response: Gideon Teo)
IV. Scripture and Apologetics
Sept 21st Benjamin Ho，Francis Schaeffer and Reformation (Response: Mejlina Tjoa)
Sept 23rd Daniel Chew，Evaluating The Purpose Driven Paradigm: Recapturing The Vision of The Centrality of The Gospel (Response: Peter Wong)
V. The Gospel and Culture
Sept 25th Linus Chua, Reformation and Education (Response: David Chen)
Sept 28th Tsun-En Lu，John Rawl’s Justice as Fairness and The Pluralistic Society (Response: David Chong)
Part II: The Reformation and John Calvin (5th - 23rd Oct 2009)
I. The historical legacy of John Calvin
Oct 5th Yao Hing Wong, Calvin's life and place in history (Response: To be confirmed)
Oct 7th Jack Sin，The Spiritual Influence and Legacy of John Calvin to The Modern World (Response: To be confirmed)
Oct 9th Daniel Chew, New Evangelical Calvinism: An analysis of the Calvinist Resurgence (Response: To be confirmed)
II. Joh Calvin's theology of God's Sovereignty
Oct 12nd Alex Tseng, Karl Barth's Doctrine of Election (Response: Joel Tay)
Oct 14th Ang Lai Hoe, Biblical Consistency of Calvin’s Work on Election (Response: To be confirmed)
Oct 16th David Chen，Has Turretin been faithful to John Calvin’s Doctrine of Election? (Response: Alex Tseng)
III. The practical theology of John Calvin
Oct 19th Fook Seong Ten, Calvin's Institutes and the Practices of Piety (Response: Lemuel Hii)
Oct 21st Zhi Yong Wang, Calvin and the Psalms: Singing the songs of Jehovah (Response: To be confirmed)
Oct 23rd Cathy Tan，The quest for Calvin's essence of worship: Passion and love of God — A journey away from ritualistic worship (Response: Paul Gao)
Do note that translations of Chinese article titles are tentative and liable to change.
I would be flying over to Sarawak over the weekend to meet Pastor Jonah Tang, so this blog will be quiet until earliest Monday.
Shalom Reformed Baptist Church has invited Dr. Dale Ralph Davis to give a seminar cum talk in their church. This coming Friday the 17th April 2009, Dr. Davis would be giving a talk open to the public. Here are the details:
Date: 17th April 2009
Time: 8pm
Topic: Clarity on Carmel (1 Kings 18)
Venue: Shalom RB premises along Upper Paya Lebar Road.
8 New Industrial Road, LHK3 Building,#03-01, Singapore 536200
Sorry to those who have left comments, but I have forgotten to announce that I was away during the week[days] and was only back on weekends during the previous two weeks. I would be clearing my mailboxes and other miscellaneous stuff, so I would not be posting anything new at least for today and probably tomorrow and even Sunday.
First off, Happy New Year!
I have reviewed the previous year and it didn't go as aimed at, but mostly it is reasonable. I would hope to resume my previous unfinished series from last year, but besides that I have other things to do also.
2009 is John Calvin's 500th birthday, and I am sure various activities have been planned by various people to commemorate this occasion. As for me, I have a project to do which would hopefully benefit the churches. I would be required to write a 3000-5000 word article on the following topic (which would be peer-reviewed and compiled into a book)
Daniel Chew，Evaluating The Purpose Driven Paradigm : Recapturing The Vision of The Centrality of The Gospel
The article would be translated into Chinese, which would thus be as follows
赵惠聪，评估标竿之代模，重新规范福音核心的异象 (CERC圣约福音归正教会，新加坡)
This should be an interesting challenge. Have been slowly preparing for it. Anyway, here is the list of all the writers and articles in this project:
I. 圣经神学
1. 王俊才，神迹与方言的分析与批判 (古晋恩典浸信会牧师，古晋归正团契及吉隆坡归正福音教会创办人，东马)
2. David Chong，评估保罗新观对唯独因信称义的教义诠释[Evaluate the "New Perspective" on Paul's Exposition of the Doctrine of Justification by faith alone] (Agora网络事工及KAIROS中心同工，西马)
3. Daniel Chew，评估标竿之代模，重新规范福音核心的异象[Evaluating The Purpose Driven Paradigm : Recapturing The Vision of The Centrality of The Gospel] (CERC圣约福音归正教会，新加坡)
II. 教义神学
4. J.J.Lim，信条和宣言在现代教会的地位和重要性 (PCC圣约朝圣者教会主理传道，新加坡)
5. 韩江平，论教父与加尔文的释经观 (PCC圣约朝圣者教会会友，印尼)
6. 许如辉，加尔文的预定论 (卫理公会主恩堂代理传道，东马)
III.历史神学
7. 黄耀兴，加尔文的生平简介和历史定位 (马里兰州立大学宗教哲学学士，东马)
8. 郑天鸣，清教徒典范论华人教会复兴 (卫理公会马当堂代理传道，东马)
9. 邓福祥，从加尔文的<基督教要义>论敬虔操练 (卫理公会准传道，东马)
IV.实践神学
10. 陈亦君，加尔文崇拜本质的探求：灵火焚心，负爱一生－走出仪文的敬拜 (音乐硕士，教会音乐教育工作者，新加坡)
11. Linus Chua，宗教改革与教育[Reformation And Education](PCC圣约朝圣者教会助理传道，新加坡)
12. 吴盈盈，浅论圣经辅导与世俗心理学 (中国信徒布道会同工，西马)
V.福音文化
13. 刘惠清，改革宗的宣教神学与华人文化处境 (卫理公会新生堂代理传道，东马)
14. 江锦顺，加尔文的经济观 (卫理公会传恩堂代理传道，东马
15. 周顺煌，比较路德与加尔文的政治观 (卫理公会芦恩堂及侨恩堂代理传道，东马)
Besides this major project for the first half of the year, I would be trying to start something in Singapore. For too long the Church has been weak with shallow Christians and dozens of heresies and open heretics moving within the walls of the Church. This is not acceptable, and it is my prayer that Reformed Christians in Singapore would unite in the truths of Scripture and go forth to evangelize Singapore Evangelicalism as well as present a coherent Christian worldview to the world to win people for God's Kingdom. Obviously, there are a lot of things going on and things are not as easy as it seems, but we will see what can be done. More information to be given later, but prayer for us in this respect is greatly appreciated.
As Christmas is drawing near, I would be spending some personal time with God in a personal retreat. Therefore, besides a post nearing Christmas, I would not be blogging much until the new year. I have found my time being taken up petty stuff recently, and desperately need to spend time with God instead of spending my time doing all kinds of stuff.
In addition, I would be praying over the year 2009 and the Lord's direction for me as I contemplate going full time in the future. Next year is the 500th anniversary of John Calvin's birthday, so something should be planned then (Await further details in the next year). To my readers: Do pray that the Lord will show me His direction and that I will be refreshed as I seek Him.
So besides the few posts I have planned to write, I would be off for the rest of the year. God bless and may His richest blessings be with you this festive season.
Soli Deo Gloria, Daniel.
Due to certain national commitments, I would be away for about 2 weeks from my blog. I will prepare perhaps one or two posts but that's it, and comments will be moderated during that time.
UPDATE: Due to some really stupid admin fault, it seems that they have canceld the ICT without informing me by any means whatsoever. So I lugged all my stuff (about 20kg I think) to camp on the other side of the Island, went there, and was told to go back because my name was not on the list as they have rescheduled my ICT!!
I would be going for the evening sessions of the upcoming Living Word 2008 Conference by DA Carson from this Tuesday to Thursday, held by the [conservative, not in communion with the apostate ECUSA] Anglicans, which should be quite interesting. Unfortunately, I didn't take leave so I could not go for the morning sessions, but the evening sessions would be a feast for sure.
Before the End: The Conquering Lamb, the Suffering Church & the Clash of Powers (Studies from the book of Revelation).
Synopsis: Is the world becoming a better place or is it getting worse? How should the church understand itself as it seeks to be faithful amidst the swirling currents of competing cultures, of nations and empires in conflict? Deploying the evocative imagery of apocalyptic symbolism, John the Prophet helps Christians in every generation to construct a frame of reference that is horrified by evil but never surprised by it, that cherishes the power of the gospel even while learning to live under the cross.
Dates: 29-31 July 2008 (Tuesday to Thursday)
Time: 7.45 – 9.45 pm
Venue: St Andrew’s Cathedral (Next to City Hall MRT)
29 July (Tuesday)
Rage, Rage, Against the Church (Revelation 12:1-13:1)In apocalyptic language, John tells us what we learn elsewhere in the New Testament: the Christian's most fundamental enemies are not other people, but the powers of darkness. How then shall we cope and triumph?
30 July (Wednesday)
Antichrist and False Prophet (Revelation 13:1-18)Some Christians around the world face brutal opposition and outright persecution; other Christians around the world are in danger of being seduced by false teaching and transient glitter. The dangers are different, yet they are one. How are we to respond?
31 July (Thursday)
Trajectories (Revelation 14)There is a perennial danger of thinking that Christian life and thought pertain primarily to this world. But the whole of the New Testament is against this reductionism: there is a heaven to be gained and a hell to be shunned. These opposed trajectories mean that everything in this life has far more significance than we sometimes think
Hats-off to the Anglicans for organizing this conference, and moving in the right direction.
My brother-in-Christ Huaizhi (whom I have met once in less-than-ideal circumstances) has posted a blog post on this event quite some time ago, and after thinking about it, I thought this should be an interesting event which should be much, much better than those very shallow and somewhat questionably-orthodox conferences like the Festival of Praise with Hillsongs and other such bands.
What I am talking about is the Passion conference, which according to Colin Hansen in his book Young, Restless and Reformed is at the heart of the New Calvinist movement sociologically. It seems that it is going worldwide now, and that seems to be an interesting opportunity to look at it first-hand. The conferences closest to Singapore will be held at KL, Malaysia on the 3rd August, followed by at Jakarta on the 5th August 2008. I will not say that I am for it, but I am neutrally positive towards the event. After all, I would place myself in the Reformed wing of the New Calvinist movement sociologically. [On such a scale, Piper would be centrist and Driscoll and Keller would be on the Progressive/Pseudo-Emerging side].
There wouldn't be a weekly meditations today, as I am preparing and packing for my church camp in Malaysia which will be from Monday to Thursday. Lord willing, I will be back on Thursday. In the meantime, all comments will switched to being moderated since I am most probably not available to monitor them.
To all my readers, have a blessed Good Friday and Easter Sunday too. Let us continue to recall the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf, and to bask in the sovereign, particular and free love he has for each one of His people.
At last, one of the few vids without any images of Jesus. As I have grown, I am starting to detest all such imagery, be it the Passion or otherwise, but most especially in such Music video format. It is a violation of the Second Commandment you know, and we all know that the actor is not Jesus anyway.
To all my readers:
Happy Chinese New Year. May God bless you abundantly, and that you will grow in the knowledge of God and His Word in the Scriptures this year. Amen.
新年快乐。主福洋溢。愿您今年能更深刻的知道上帝和他圣经里的话语。阿门。
春節におめでとうございます。主イエスクリストの祝福が十二分にありますように。今年は神様を知ることと聖書の中に神様の話をわかることがあれるようになります。アーメン。
