Discerning the Spirit in the Church Today

By Simon Chan

(This article is originally published by the Centre for the Development of Christian Ministry of Trinity Theological College, Singapore, in periodical Church and Society, issue 7.3 [2004], p.105-113, and reproduced at Church and Society in Asia Today website.)

Christians throughout history have always recognized the need to evaluate the sources of their spiritual experience if they are to make spiritual progress. Not all experiences come from the Holy Spirit. There are two other possible sources: the devil and ourselves. Confusing these sources could have disastrous consequences. In more recent times, the charismatic renewal has brought the matter of spiritual operations to the forefront of the church's life and consciousness. All kinds of conflicting claims are made in the name of the Holy Spirit. We need to discern these spiritual operations.

The Church as a Multi-racial Community

By Robert Solomon
(This article is originally published by the Centre for the Development of Christian Ministry of Trinity Theological College, Singapore, in periodical Church and Society, issue 7.2 [2004]: 64-74, and reproduced at Church and Society in Asia Today website.)

I was at a combined service recently where I had the joy of giving the benediction in three languages - Mandarin, Tamil, and English. After the service, a member of one of our Peranakan services remarked that I had missed saying the benediction in Malay. Interestingly, the next day I was at a Peranakan service and had the opportunity to give the benediction in Malay. This experience reiterated for me the fact that the church is a multilingual and multi-racial community. This is not just a sociological phenomenon, for in order to understand it adequately, we must begin with a theological perspective.

A Theological Perspective
We begin with the creation account in Genesis where we are introduced to God the Creator who made the heavens, the earth, and all that dwell on earth, including human beings. A constant theme right through Scripture is that it is proper for this Creator God to be worshipped by all people. However, sin entered the human race when Adam and Eve sinned (Gen. 3) and since then, God has been redeeming mankind to Himself.