The Collared Ones
“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy…”
Priests at rally…
“Thus saith the LORD…” sermon in front of the city council building, reminds me of Jim Wallis and friends at the Capitol
A white priest and a black priest, yin yang harmony to counter the chaos of the world
Hot, but not MBPJ Idol. Joel did say, “…your daughter will prophesy”.
The collared ones have dedicated their lives as servants of the Most High, choosing a path of discipleship and servant-leadership as pastors of the people of God. At times, wearing the collar means taking a counter-culture stance of obedience to god than to the socio-economic or political trends of the day.
When the collared ones walk the street in public protest of a certain issue they are not advocating any party’s political biases, but rather, they speak as prophets of the Most High, condemning by their presence and words the injustice, the indignation done to fellow humanity by the powers that be. Their message is not socialism or laissez faire, neither left nor right, neither liberal or conservative, but rather, their cries were those of Jeremiah, who spoke on god’s behalf,
“Why do you contend with me?
You have all transgressed against me, declares the LORD”
And their proposal is not to overthrow one form of government for another, at least that’s not the focal point, but rather, again speaking as god’s mouthpiece,
“Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts and I will return to you…”
That is, not a coup de etat, but an offer of a new lease of life, a second chance with god the One that matters the most. And at times, with so many choices on the menu of political ideologies, perhaps this is what we needed the most, a fresh word about politics without party, justice without vengence, love without a price-tag and life, life in abundance.
March on collared ones…
Lord, I pray for the collared ones as they live their lives in obedience to you in their vocation. May Your servants prosper, Amen.
(The priests shown in this post are the Reverend Anthony Loke and the Reverend Sivin Kit. The lady speaking behind the mike is Trisha Yeoh. These photos were taken at the PJ Anti-ISA Vigil on the 23rd November 2008 – by taken from the Reverend Sivin Kit)
Great post. For a moment I thought you were there and managed to make yourself invisible. Btw, if the photos were taken by Rev. Sivin, how did he take his own photo?
splim, true also hor…truth is i grabbed the pics from Sivin’s facebook, so I assume it was taken by him…hahaha..
It’s like saying how could Moses write about his death in Exodus right? When I’m in the picture , those were taken by Lee Soo Choo …
Got nicer pictures now on facebook taken by Pat Lu!
By the way technically, Methodist and Lutherans are more us the term “pastors” rather than “priests”
Thanks for your encouraging words. It was Rev. Anthony’s first time and he came with conviction and spoke his heart out
I was happy to support silently.
Or how could Paul wrote Ephesians. HAha…
Great works Sivin, Anthony Loke and Trisha doing there. Their participation bring about messages that they didn’t even anticipated.
Thanks Joshua, for the encouragement. How are things in Singapore for you? And the churches? I’ve been following with some interest on your take on the most “happening” churches and pastors in a most “hip” country
Hi Sivin, Singapore is still OK though its major bank has chopped off 900 employees. I’m still relaxing after the exam early this month.
Churches?…..not sure though…. I think for the next few months the churches will be busy dealing with euthanasia which Singapore government might be looking forward to legalise.
I received many criticism by the supporters of the happening church on one side for missing what the hip pastor is trying to say, and from fundamentalist ‘Reformed’ people on the other side for being shallow due to me being ‘not-known-for-discernment’.
Can’t please everyone.
Thank you for asking.
You may want to check the spelling, it’s Tricia, not Trisha