LPN Newsletter 003/April 2009

Editorial . . . As you take a look at the vision of the different LPN Churches on the right of this page, you will observe a marked similarity. And why not? Well, the truth is that it has to be similar, because we are all reading from the same bible . . . yet something is still missing!

THE MISSING PIECE . . .

Over the years, the old local church practice of having yearly themes for church visions have given way to long term visions. And the Great Commandment and the Great Commission have become norms in most churches' vision statements. But, as Pr Lim Soon Hock puts it, the last missing piece of the puzzle, the Creation Mandate, is often not reflected in local church visions. Why is that so? We do not have the space to expound on this but suffice it to say that most evangelical churches have abdicated from their role in society to focus on purely spiritual matters.

The injunctions of our evangelical faith; to love God, love our neighbours and love the lost will not be complete until we understand and accept that the Adamic creation mandate, to rule over this created world, has not been abrogated and is still very much the Christians' responsibility today.

OCCUPY TILL HE COMES . . .

As David Pawson puts it 'we are redeemed to live, not in heaven, but in the new earth we will rule in the Millennium with our Lord Jesus Christ.' But this rule starts today . . . the Church of Jesus Christ is meant to “occupy till He comes” or “do business till He comes” (Luke 19:13).

Today, we understand that 'discipling the nations' in the Great Commission, is better understood as, not merely making converts, but as teaching them to all obey all that Jesus taught thus bringing the will of God to bear on earth as it is in heaven.

It therefore includes ensuring that the people groups (nations) come to the place of governance where they obey the Creation Mandate, to have dominion over and to subdue the earth, in a manner reflective of the will of God in heaven. So environmental issues matter as much as social political, judicial and economic issues! This is truly the Father’s world!

LPN VISION – THE CREATION MANDATE . . .

And the LPN Vision is largely an expression of the Creation Mandate. Thus, in coming together to espouse the LPN Vision for the city, the seven LPN churches have included this part of the churches’ responsibility where it should rightly belong, not to a local church alone, but to the Church in the City.

A UNITY PLATFORM . . .

We are not so arrogant as to assume that we are the Church in the City but we do believe, humbly, that the LPN can be a catalyst for a movement to bring all stakeholders in the city’s welfare together, in a unity platform, for the transformation of our city and ultimately for the discipleship of the nations.

Other local churches, missions agencies, bible institutions and para-church organisations are part and parcel of God’s plan to establish His Kingdom in this part of the world. And we seek to play the role of uniting the all stakeholders in this great endeavour.

In this time of social, political and economic confusion in our nation, the Church must shine like a lighthouse in a dark, stormy night where desperate vessels, tossed about by waves threatening to overturn them, may find the safety of shore, navigating through dangerous rocks guided by the light of the lighthouse.

May we UNITE as “ONE LORD, ONE CHURCH, ONE VISION”! May we “Arise and Shine”!

Pastor Albert - LPN Facilitator for City Transformation

LPN Newsletter 002/Feb 2009

Editorial . . . Forging a shared vision is not an easy thing to do in any church, what more when we have to do it, not only as seven Senior Pastors, but with our seven churches whose members seldom meet in one assembly for a time of hearing vision together.

However, the motivation behind our vision for discipling the city is strong enough for us to attempt the near-impossible task. And that motivation is to see Jesus glorified in our city, in our country and in the world!

There is no worthier cause than that!

HOW THEN SHALL WE BEGIN?

Shared vision is forged . . .

In faith . . . when we believe that it can be done! By putting our heart and minds to it AND when the seven churches place the LPN Vision for the city as their local churches’ foremost priority.

In prayer . . . when we pray for the LPN vision for city transformation at our church prayer meetings. When cell meetings include spontaneous prayers for discipling the city which begins with each member. And when all our seven churches gather, in one place and with one heart, regularly, for city wide prayers.

In word . . . when our messages from the pulpit take on a larger vision than our own local church and embrace the heart of the Lord for our city. When our bulletins, websites, blogs promote the kingdom aspect of the mission of God and highlight the needs of the cities and the testimonies of what God is doing in our city, and

In deed . . . when we make time to learn together (Intentional Discipleship Church Models, Tent-making, the Template Institute Conferences, Community Development Training and etc) as ONE CHURCH. When we join hands to serve together in our city in existing city transformation ministries like Charis Hospice, House of Hope, KAWAN, Malaysian Care and etc as ONE CHURCH.

WIDENING THE NET, STRATEGICALLY . . .

The VISION began with the Senior Pastors but it must now move on. Like the ever-widening ripples of water when a stone is cast into the waters, the next ripple is the next level of leadership.

If Senior Pastors are the CASTER of vision, then core teams of second level leaders are the CONNECTORS of the vision.

If you are an elder, deacon, board member, head of department etc . . . you are playing a vital role. You either connect the vision of the senior pastors to the congregations of the local churches or you disconnect it.

Do you share the vision of your Senior Pastor? Do you know what is in his heart? If you do not, now is the time to get to know it, because, in the days ahead, not only will you be required to know it and share it with those under you, but you will need to become part of the forging of the SHARED VISION for the city.

The Vision needs YOU to bring life to what are presently mere words, to give strategies that are appropriate to daily life and to live out the Gospel in the midst of the city we hope to disciple.

May the Lord bless you in 2009!

Pastor Albert - LPN Facilitator for City Transformation

LPN Newsletter 001/Jan 2009

Editorial . . . Celebrating 10 years of partnership! That is what it has been. A decade of working together that has bonded the Senior Pastors of these 7 Churches of Penang Island into a tight-knit band of brothers with a purpose . . . the discipling of our nations beginning with our city!

HISTORY OF THE LPN

It all started in the year 1999, at the turn of the century, and millennium too. Expectations were high for the return of Christ. Y2K was big news. Survival kits were being sold. Uncertainty as to the future was as thick as the clouds that sometimes envelope Penang Hill in cold nights! But some pastors got together to seek the Lord as to what He wants the churches to do, in a show of Christian unity, to impact the city at the beginning of the 3^rd Millennium.

From this simple beginning of partnership in organising city-wide events, the Love Penang Network was formed at a subsequent 1^st Penang Pastor Prayer Summit, from some of the churches that were involved in the planning of the Millennium Celebrations,.

CHANGES IN LPN LEADERSHIP

The LPN has an original team of 7 Senior Pastors with Ps Koe Choon Huan as the Chairman. Major changes in this team took place in the last 2 years but the partnership continues stronger than ever.

Ps Prem Kumar of FPBC has since gone home to the Lord in Dec 2006, In March 2007 Ps Lim Soon Hock moved on to pastor his old church, PJEFC in PJ. He remains an associate member of the LPN! In December 2007, Ps Albert resigned as Senior Pastor of FGA Centre and moved on to a new role in missions mobilising.

He was invited to remain in the LPN to facilitate their city transformation work, missions endeavours and community service projects.

The new LPN Ministry Team is listed in the right column.

THE FUTURE AHEAD

This leads us to the reason for LPN Newsletter!

In July 2008 the LPN Ministry Team had a planning camp where we had a major over-haul of our network. Today, we have five year plan for the transformation of the city.

Now we need to communicate our vision, mission statement, strategies and core values to our churches . . . hence, a monthly newsletter (plus other multi-media communication tools on the way!)

May the Lord bless you in 2009!

Doing Business Till He Comes,

Pastor Albert - LPN Facilitator for City Transformation