The first Men’s Meeting of the year led by City Harvest Church pastor Tan Ye Peng took a leaf out of the Book of Joshua.
CN PHOTOS: Daniel Poh.
“Have you ever felt that you’ve done everything correct, but you failed?”
That was the question CHC pastor Tan Ye Peng posed to the men gathered at City Harvest’s first Men’s Meeting of 2013 at Jurong West. Before a full capacity crowd at the church’s 2,300-seater auditorium on the night of Apr. 12, Tan shared from the Book of Joshua, encouraging all to pursue sanctification.
Drawing from the example of Israel’s defeat by the much smaller army of Ai because of disobedience, Tan pointed out that God is more concerned with our character and our obedience than whether we win every battle in life. In fact, everything God is doing in our lives is aimed at our sanctification.
In Joshua 5, the Israelites committed themselves to individual sanctification after the last man from the generation that wandered in the wilderness had died, circumcising every man in preparation for battle when the Jordan River had dried up. In Joshua 7, the Israelites had to comb through the army camp to identify the culprit who transgressed against God and took cursed items from the spoils of war even though God had specifically forbidden it.
It was only after the Lord had turned away from His anger at that transgression that the Israelites were able to turn the tables and defeat the people of Ai in a subsequent battle.
Earlier, the meeting started in high gear with zone supervisor Wayne Choong emcee-ing a round of icebreakers. The men found themselves pitted against each other in strength, multi-tasking ability and artistic skills as they did push-ups, answered questions while typing on their mobile phones, and lastly, illustrated the ascension of Christ—all within a time limit.
Members left the meeting challenged to pursue more purity in their lives. Student Lee Chuen Heng, 20, said, “God has everything in control despite our ‘wilderness’ situations; we can stand before God and change to become a champion in life.”
“It was an amazing experience for me as there is something different when the men gather together; the whole atmosphere was full of power,” added School Of Theology student Jason Leung Jia Jian, 21. “My take-home point is that I must be able to stand upright and pursue purity before God. When I’m able to stand before God, I’ll be able to stand against enemies or circumstances because God is on my side.”
The meeting is the first of two on the church’s calendar for 2013. The second Men’s Meeting will be held on Jul. 5 and will feature Mike Connell, senior pastor of Bay City Outreach Center in New Zealand.
