Introduction
The question of maintaining stability and unity has challenged mankind since the days of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel. In fact, it started when man fell away from the fellowship of God and became slaves to sin, Satan and the flesh. The credits are due to the Devil who has more than 6000 years of experience in “divide and destroy" strategy to prevent man to get his rightful inheritance for "the thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy."
Sometime during the late fifties, fired with enthusiasm and nationalism, our young, and shall we say untested and immature leaders, formed themselves into groups and associations and started venturing into nation building and began shaping the future of this God given Nation of ours. Notable among them were Datuk G.S. Sundang, Tun Fuad Stephens, Datuk Peter Mojuntin and many others some of whom are still alive today. God had used these men and through the valuable and expensive experience gained by them, we can capitalize them so we could tackle greater challenges ahead which require greater spiritual discernment and God given wisdom and power to deal with effectively.
They were wrestling with the question of unity and political stability. One sometimes wonder whether any one of them had read, meditated and understood what Paul meant when he wrote to the Ephesians, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."
Enemies at Work.
The signs that the enemies were at work have been recorded in their history and treasured in their archive. UNKO was split in half over the issue whether we call ourselves "Human (Kadazan)" or " Orchard (Dusun)" A peace treaty was established among the contending parties and a marriage union was decided and it was named UPKO. However, Mammon, the prince of wealth, managed to woo a couple of bible reading, church going leaders and UPKO closed shop?.
It was during this period that Mammon had controlled the leaders, persecution and blackmail became the order of the day. It was also during this period that the people of God began to turn to Him and call upon His name. Then the Lord our God heard their prayers and put a burden on the heart of the young Peter Mojuntin and he, together with some others, lay down their own lives so that others may have lives.
Berjaya was born in the late seventies and was voted to power but most of those who steered it to victory perished in the triple-6 accident. It was the "Beast", his initial is 666, that master plan the accident and took control of the Government. But God was great and it was during this period that He was preparing young and committed leaders to eventually topple the "Beast" top brass leaders. ("Beast" refers to the demonic spiritual power behind the physical organization and exerting its influence through "Unbelievers" working within.)
The Kadazan was given time to organize themselves into a State wide association, using as a platform their cultural heritage as a basis of uniting the people of God. This time the Lord our God had put the burden on many people.
Notable among them were Datuk Pairin, Gundohing Ignatius Stephen Malanjun, Gundohing Ignatius Buji, Datuk Leduin Mobijohn, Datuk James Ongkili, Datuk Felix Golingi, Datuk John Maluda, Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, Datuk Peter Athanasius, Tan Sri Simon Sipaun, Gundohing George Kunjan, Gundohing Fred Solibun, Datuk Monggoh Orow, Gundohing Paul Baklin, Gundohing Dunstan Dumpangol, Gundohing George Mokunjil, Gundohing Sebastian Anjim, Datuk Fred Jinu, Datuk Claudius Sundang Alex, Gundohing Roger Dunstan, Gundohing Dominic Chu, Tan Sri Richard Malajun, Gundohing Wilson Malingka and others who worked behind the scene. The enemies knew the plan of God in their lives and they used all sorts of demonic strategies, aided by their human allies, to bring havoc personally to them and the people of God. But God is great; He had heard the prayers of millions of His children around the world interceding for Sabah. PBS was voted, and amidst baptism of "fire", became the State Government for 3 consecutive State elections.
The question that is confronting the Kadazan and which they have to address themselves now is: How did the "People of God" manage to retain power in spite of their apparent weaknesses? Why did they fail? And how can they sustain themselves against the wiles, intimidation of the "enemies" and their human allies with their available worldly physical "resources"? How can one responds to the call of UNITY by men or women who are motivated NOT by the LOVE of God but Mammon and the FLESH!
BACK TO BASIC.
Armed with Logos, the written Word of God, many went before the Lord and prayerfully seek His wisdom on this issue. In answer to the first question raised above, the word of God in 1 Cor 1:27 says that " God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise: and God had chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty for His strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor 12:9) Yes, it was the hand of our God whom they worship in the name of Jesus that was responsible for the various turn of events which shielded them from the enemies. Praise be His Holy Name. He is indeed a living and a loving God.
GOD IS ALSO THE RIGHTEOUS AND HOLY GOD.
Let it not be forgetter, fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, that the God that is worshipped in the name of Jesus, is not only the living, loving but also the righteous and holy God. He is not a respecter of man but in every nation whoever fears Him and righteous in his ways is accepted by Him. (Acts 10:34) "For we must all appear before the judgment of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." (2 Cor 5:10)
The testimony of the children of Israel, God chosen people, is a living example: how, when they become puffed up by their material wealth, worldly knowledge, power and self-centeredness, they forgot God and turn to idol worship, things of the flesh and of the world, and God brought upon them "Swords of Righteousness" to make them aware that He meant business.
Many discerning Christians are of the opinion that the entry of UMNO to Sabah was God's sword of righteousness. And praise the Lord for His divine wisdom and providence but one must respond whole heartedly to His call for genuine repentance and reconciliation in order to have access to His throne of Grace.
For God is saying to us today: "... if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, and that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth .... The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face ... The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens ... You shall lend to many nation, but you shall not borrow ... And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them." (Deuteronomy 28: 1- 14)"
But why are the Kadazan, known in history books as 'Believers of Jesus', still disunited, spiritually numb and economically backward," one may ask.
The answer is simple: “Because they have backslided and disobeyed God and are under His curses. Many of their root problems, sufferings, bitter rivalry, poverty, addictions, social ills, disunity, sickness, spiritual oppressions and instabilities in their lives are the very fruits they are reaping as a result of sinful lives in the past. (Deut 28:15-28)
What are these commandments and statutes that the Lord our God is talking about. These have been summarized by the Lord Jesus as follows: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength and your neighbor as thyself".
SPIRITUAL REVIVAL
The only solution to these problems faced by the Kadazan is.....SPIRITUAL REVIVAL.
What is a spiritual revival? Richard Booker in his book, "Coming Revival" defines revival as a "visitation from God that renews life in the Church and produces lasting moral change.
The Bible tells us that the people who make up the Church are those who have believed and declared their allegiance to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and came to God through Him as their only Way. (John 3:16; 14:6; 1 Cor 3:16;6:19-20).
The Bible also tells us that there is a God in heaven, Creator and owner of the Universe, who wants us to know Him, worship Him and serve Him. He has revealed Himself to us primarily in four ways: 1) Creation, 2) Instinct, 3) the Bible or His word, and 4) Jesus Christ who is the Word of God that became flesh. Whenever mankind turns his back on this revelation of God's existence and character, God makes Himself known in a fifth way - through revival.
In revival, God moves in sovereign power by His Spirit to reveal His greatness and goodness to mankind. He does not make Himself known in order to promote a religious denomination, to substantiate religious doctrines or creeds, to further religious programs or to exalt human personalities. He alone is glorified, and every philosophy, person and program is overwhelmed by Him and His awesome holiness.
"When there is a moral decline in the life of a nation or an individual, it will be accompanied by much sorrow and heartache. There will be mental confusion, which will lead to poor judgment and unsound decisions. There will be emotional instability and depression. The will becomes weak, resulting in the lack of courage and conviction. Health and prosperity will give way to sickness, disease and poverty." This is the picture that Richard Booker painted and somehow it fits nicely in some point of time in our lives and especially during this time, or the previous Governments.... but the scope of our concern is TODAY ....so we can prepare for a better tomorrow.
WHY THE NEED FOR SPIRITUAL REVIVAL?
The answer to this question is very fundamental to our understanding of the perfect will, plans and purposes of God in our lives here on Earth. So let us go to the beginning. In Genesis 1:26,28 "" Then God said, "And now we will make human beings; they will be like us and resemble us. They will have power over the fish, the birds, and all the animals,
domestic and wild, large and small He created them, male and female, blessed them and said to them "Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals.""
When God breathed that life-giving breath into the nostrils of the lifeless made-of-clay man, the Spirit of God entered and it began to live. He was a perfect creation, having an immortal body, superior in power, second to none but God, and having access to all the facilities in Paradise including the tree of life except the tree of knowledge of good and evil; the best gift and the greatest one which made Satan green with envy is Adam's close and intimate fellowship with God when He had His walk in the garden.
Man was not made to consume the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It was a "lethal poison" to him. God put a label on it," Poison, Instant death if consumed" but Satan changed it ,"Poison if taken publicly, Instant death if consumed without care or otherwise guaranteed to make God out of you.!"
Through the deception of Satan, mankind became virtually his slaves for 4,000 years and thus the power delegated to Adam over earth became legally his except for the promise of God for a Savior who will "set the captives free". No descendant of Adam was fit or strong enough to overcome Satan except God Himself who became "the Son of man" through virgin birth by Mary and fulfilled and paid the full price for the mistakes and sins of mankind by dying on the cross at Calvary almost 2,000 years ago.
How many Kadazan, especially those involved in leadership and decision making roles that affect many lives, are conscious of what God is doing these last days? And how many are taking seriously what the Holy Bible says about God's plan for His people? And how about those people who continue to live in rebellion against God? There are hardly any "Holy-Spirit-led" Kadazan leaders in this generation especially in the political arena.
....BECAUSE MOST KADAZAN HAVE TURN THEIR BACK ON GOD!
That is the main reason why the Kadazan need spiritual revival because all of us have fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23). The human nature shows itself in immoral, filthy, and indecent actions; in worship of idols and witchcraft. People become enemies and they fight; they become jealous, angry, and ambitious, separate into parties and groups; they are envious, get drunk, have orgies, and do other things like these.... those who do these things will not posers the Kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21) The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit because His presence in our hearts produces in us love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control.(Galatians 5:22)
One should not deceive oneself: no one makes a fool of God. (Galatians 6:7) The wages of sin, which is rebellion against God, is Death. (Romans 6:23) Just like "DDT" is a lethal poison to our physical or "outer" man, "sin" is a lethal poison to our "spiritual" or "inner" man. A man whose spirit is “poisoned-dead" is a slave of sins or "child of the devil". Can one votes for those, who are slaves of sin or under the direct influence of the Devil or who are powerless against the evil ones, to lead and make important decisions that affect the lives of God's people or the destiny of the Nation ? Because their master and chief is the thief (Satan) who comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy us. (John 10:10) Unless all are under fear and intimidation or are under demonic deception, one does not need much wisdom and understanding to figure out the right answer to the above question.
The book of Proverbs says that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God and the knowledge of God will lead to all kind of understanding. The Bible says that if you are not with Christ then you must be with the Devil (Rom 8:9) there is no independent party. And if we are with Christ then we must obey His commandments, declare our allegiance to His Lordship publicly and confess our faith in Him with our heart and our mouth, abandon our self-centeredness or die to the flesh, take up our own cross and follow Him daily. In other words, the focal point in our lives must be Christ!
WHY DO WE HAVE TO BE WITH CHRIST?
Because He had been given all authority in heaven and on earth, (Matt 28:18) He is the source of life, and this life brought light to mankind. (John 1:4) Through Him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without Him. (John 1:3) And He promised to be with us till the end of time. (Matt 28:20) And if He is with us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)
WHAT DO WE DO TO BE WITH CHRIST?
In order to believe in Him, one must know Him and be able to communicate and relate to Him personally . And through His examples, sacrifices, love and baptism of the Holy Spirit, we become convicted and, obedient to Him.
Spiritual revival provides one with a personal encounter with Him and His reality as a loving and living God becomes a living experience. It is for this reason that more people of God should fall down on their knees to ask the Lord to send spiritual revival to this land of ours so that many more lives could be touched, energized and liberated by the Holy Spirit.
USING THE WORD OF GOD AS A BASIS AND MEANS TO ESTABLISH UNITY AND SUSTAIN POLITICAL STABILITY.
Man is basically a trinity.... of spirit, mind and body. Many have realized that the spiritual man, i.e. the inner man, is far superior in intellect and power compared to the physical or outer man. But few have realized that through the fall of man in the garden of Eden, his spirit became "dead". Only the death of Christ on the cross at Calvary redeemed us from that state; it is through the power of the blood of Jesus that we can be set free from this "death" and regenerated spiritually. (John 3:5)
Spiritual regeneration is the fundamental step that has to be taken in order for a man to be able to receive the rights to become the "children of God" or the citizenship of Heaven. (John 1:12) Without undergoing this process, he will not be able to see things of the spirit as God sees them but will always consider them "foolish" and thus will not be able to receive spiritual blessings and power and moved mightily as a "truly anointed servant and vessel of God".
PROCESS OF UNITY.
P.U.R.U., a Kadazan term meaning unity-in-diversity, can be adopted as an acronym that defines the critical path in achieving the declared objective of uniting the various tribes for Unity must be preceded by Peace, Understanding and Reconciliation. Our ultimate aim may be Unity of the people and political stability of the Nation. But what kind of Unity do we have if we do not first work hard towards peace, understanding and reconciliation: and how can unity last if it is not founded upon trust, love, respect or honor and wisdom or understanding.
How can one find wisdom or understanding? And how many of us have wanted to have peace only to realize that peace is the monopoly of the super guys or super nations. How many times we try to reconcile the discrepancies in life, “the rich becomes richer, the poor becomes poorer: the evildoers become more powerful and multiply in number? How can there be trust in this world when every one is struggling to compete against each other.... survival of the fittest; every one is somehow involved directly or indirectly in plotting the downfall of his neighbors in business, politics, sports or in other activities of their earthly lives. And why should one pays the price of Unity only to find out that some greedy, nasty and self-centered people get rich overnight or some sweet-talking pastor, businessmen or politician sucks the people dry and become themselves super rich and demigod. This is the physical world we are living in right now: it is just the opposite of what our Heavenly Father wants us to have and that is why the Lord Jesus taught us to pray the "Our Father" so that His Will is done on Earth, as it is done in Heaven, so that His Kingdom will cover the physical aspect of our lives. Is it His will that we should have Peace?
“PEACE I LEAVE WITH YOU, MY PEACE I GIVE UNTO YOU: NOT AS THE WORLD GIVETH, GIVE I UNTO YOU ". (John 14:27)"
The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace." (Psalm 29:11) These passages were addressed to His disciples and not the world at large for whoever do not receive and believe in Him, they are under curse of God (John 3:18) because evildoers love darkness and Jesus is the Light of men.
"When a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies live at peace, with him. (Prov 16:7)
"God's peace is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7)
So this is the type of peace that we should seek and only Jesus can give a lasting peace because He is the Prince of Peace. We should enrolled ourselves immediately, if one is not yet a member, to become member of His winning party, Barisan Nur-Isa-Al-Masih, which He as the Eternal super President has established since the beginning of time, to rule forever. If one can not understand this, then seek understanding.
UNDERSTANDING
For the reverence and fear of God are basic to all wisdom. Knowing God results in every other kind of understanding." (Prov 9:10) “For the Lord grants wisdom! His every word is a treasure of knowledge and understanding. He grants good sense to the godly. “(Prov 2:6,7)
Thus the key to these treasures is to read, study, meditate and singing in the spirit; then only will one know why religion had sadly entrapped many men and women whose lives do not measure with what they preached and believed.
Why a prominent Christian leader did change the "object" of his faith? Because most likely in the first place, the "object" of his faith at that particular point of time was not strong enough to withstand the intimidation, blackmail and seduction by the "beast" . The object of his faith was not the "Son of God", the "Anointed Messiah", " God the Son", "He that is one with the Father", the "Alpha & Omega", the "Beginning and the Ending". He was not the true Christ". Who was the "object" of his faith? He was the "false Christ" whose human mother became his personal assistant in “heaven" and were surrounded by secretaries who were known by spiritually deceived "Christians" on Earth as "Mother of God" and " Saints" and became as an intermediary or "middlemen" in their prayers to God.
We should not be confused about the exact nature of the divinity and deity of Jesus Christ. He may have a human mother, when God revealed Himself as a man but that lasted only for 33 years ; and upon completion of His mission on Earth, He was taken up and became once more the Eternal Word of God, God the Word who was with God since the beginning. (John 1:1) Jesus foreknew that Satan will use " traditions and culture of men " to deceive many devoted Christians from coming and praying to Him personally or directly and that is why He said, "Who is my mother and my brothers; those who hear the word of God and do it is my mother and my brothers." (Luke 8:21)
The Holy Bible says that we should not worship or pray to any other except to Him the Great I AM; and there should not be any other "heavenly" intercessor, or "go-between", except the Resurrected Lord who is interceding for us 24 hours a day in Heaven; and we should not communicate with any other spirit or have any "spirit guide","divato" except the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God. (Exodus 20:4; John 14:6; 1 Tim 2:5; 1 Corinthians 10:20; Galatians 5:20; Rev 20:10)
If one has not strictly followed this, he has committed a gravest sin of idolatry and witchcraft which is against the first commandment of God: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6:5) Either consciously or not, the fact is the Kadazan are under a curse by God, even right up to their fourth generation or more. This is what the Word of God says (Exodus 20:4), for every harvest festival, they are looking up and giving honor, through a medium, the "Bobohizans", to the demonic spirits, one of which is called the "spirit of padi, known as “Bambahazon". This indeed has grieved and hurt the Spirit of God and He is saying to us to-day:
God, our Heavenly Father, is saying to us now, "Enough is enough, I have gone a long way with you but I cannot go too far: because I love you very much, I will put an end to these practices which will lead you and your nation to nowhere but utter destruction. Look around you and see for yourself. What had happened to all the privileges and blessings I have bestowed upon you? Have they not been stolen by your enemies! Because your hearts were proud, arrogant and presumptuous, you were blinded, weakened and made helpless by your ignorance, greed, fear, selfishness and disobedience. Where is your savior ... the mother of god ... your queen of heaven ... the spirit of padi ... your jimmat ... your komburongo ... your bobohizans.... your huguan sious ... can they save you or help you now.
My dear children, I am longing (hangadon) to embrace you in My arms, all of you, the poor, the rich, the sick, the educated, the illiterate, the weak, the strong, the lonely, the rejected, every one: My two arms are wide open, ready to receive you all but your hearts remained closed and cold like stone. I am hurt and painfully nursing My heart. 0 My beloved children turn to Me and come directly to Me. You don't need any other as a middlemen or women as mediators, especially those who are already dead, but Jesus My Son, who is alive, and had paid the full price and provided for you the Way, Truth and Life to Me. Just put your faith in Him and through Him and in Him, you will know Me and find Me. " (John 14:6)
Our God is a faithful God. In spite of our transgression He has provided us a way out of this but let us understand a bit more about the devil's strategy especially touching on religious deception.
CAN A DESCENDANT OF ADAM EXIST BEFORE GOD? CALLING ANOTHER HUMAN THE MOTHER OF GOD IS DECLARING HER OLDER THAN GOD, THE ALMIGHTY. THIS IS WHAT THE DEVIL WANTED BECAUSE THE POWER BEHIND THIS DOCTRINE IS SATAN HIMSELF. How can the "CREATED" become older than the CREATOR. Only common sense will tell that the CREATOR precedes the "Created". Any descendant of the first Adam is a sinner, just as we are, because the Bible says that all have fallen short of the grace of God. (Rom 3:23) Jesus, the perfect revelation of God through a human, had to die on the Cross for her sins as well. She needed to be baptized in the Holy Spirit to enter into the Kingdom of God. She died and was buried and her remains are still on Earth. No one can deny that.
UNDERSTANDING THE STRATEGY OF THE ENEMY
” For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Eph 6:12) The Devil appears as a toothless "roaring lion" or a "wolf under a sheep skin"; toothless in the sense that the Blood of the Lamb of God, the testimonies of the saints and the fact that they love not their earthly life, had already defeated him. He is the thief and he came to steal, kill and destroy. He is a master of deception and knows the word of God from cover to cover, front to back, back to cover but he does not obey them. He is a spirit and has no form. Angels of God have their celestial body but the fallen angels have lost theirs. They have names and their names reflect or correspond to their function e.g. spirit of lust, spirit of greed, and so on. They are highly organized. They fight among themselves. They have a varying degree of intelligence and power; the most powerful are those in the heavenly realm e.g. territorial spirits. They exercise certain control over cities, places and regions. They can cause sickness, accidents, miracles, healing and other signs and wonders. They can enter human vessels through consent obtained by force or deception, through sins and curses. One should not underestimate their power but on the other hand, we should not give them too much credits as they are already defeated enemies for greater is the Spirit of the Lord that lives in every born-again believer than these demons and evil spirits that are in the world.
The devils are not omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient but their kingdom is highly organized and information are transmitted at supernatural speed. They can understand what we say but they cannot read our mind or our heart. Thus the Lord gave us “spirit language” which they cannot understand but our spirits and the Holy Spirit communicate each other in "Bahasa Roh”. They cannot function outside the will of God. They have no legal right to own or claim us, except those who rejects Jesus, because Jesus had already purchased us with His own life and blood on the cross at Calvary and redeemed all of us from sins but we have to have faith in Jesus and the Holy Spirit indwelling in our body to discern them and fight them off. Unless we ourselves had given them legal grounds, they are trespassing on our lives, property and business. Jesus main purpose of coming to Earth is to pull down the strongholds of Satan (1 John 3:8) By becoming the followers of Christ, it is our duty to continue that work and for this, the Lord Jesus had given us the "Armor of God" (Ephesians 6:13), the gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit, His fivefold ministry available to His church, the blood of the Lamb of God, and the fellowship in the Body of Christ which is the Universal Church.
THIS IS A WAY OUT
The only way out is to join the WINNING PARTY: BARISAN NUR-ISA-ALMASIH!
Without the power of the Holy Spirit, Satan will make mincemeat out of us. But the first step to be taken is for us to humble ourselves before God and acknowledge our sinfulness, and ask God to forgive us and make an effort to turn away from sins. (1 John 1:9)
RECONCILIATION
When man fell into sins, he has "joined" himself with the devil and declared God as his enemy. Repentance is the process whereby one is convicted of his own sinfulness, and in humility, he come before God to be forgiven, after he himself had forgiven others of the wrongs done unto him, and God wipes his sins clean because of what Jesus had done on the Cross ....He was offered as a "once for all" sacrifice for the sins of mankind. This facility is only opened to those who believed that Jesus is the Son of God (John 3:16), acknowledged, declared and confessed His Lordship in their hearts and through their mouths and become obedient to His commandments.
"When anyone is joined to Christ, he is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come. All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into His friends and gave us the task of making others His friends also.... God was making all mankind His friends through Christ. Let God changes you from enemies into His friends!" (2 Corinthians 5:17 - 20)
SIGNS FOLLOWING THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN JESUS
Believers will be given the power to perform miracles; they will drive out demons in Jesus' name; they will speak in strange tongues; if they pick up snakes or drink any poison, they will not be harmed; they will place their hands on sick people, who will get well. (Mark 16:17-18) But one should not only go after these signs and wonders or the gifts but should seek to know the "Giver" more.
Reconciliations among men should follow after one becomes reconciled to God personally and individually; though it may take some time, the Power of the Holy Spirit will work in the lives of the individuals, and given the right guidance, assistance or shepherding and "spiritual food", they will mature into "the likeness of Christ" and will one day become part of His "bride". It is during this period of maturing them that the right kind of effort should be intensified and greater resources should be spent, for instance, in setting up Christian Schools, Bible Centers, Christian libraries, Christian fellowships, Evangelistic centers, Christian publication and printing centers, newspapers, magazines, conferences, conventions, seminars and prayer meetings, Christian refresher Courses for civil servants, businessmen and women, community leaders, teachers and students where the five-fold ministries of Jesus could be established, developed and operated effectively.
Leaders who wanted these changes or transformation of character in their fellowmen must themselves have been touched by the Holy Spirit, regenerated and renewed, had attained a sufficient degree of commitment and maturity in their spiritual walk with God to be able to confess and declare what the Apostle Paul had said, “For me, to live is Christ, to die is Gain." Only leaders who has the compassion, heart and attitude and philosophy of life as Jesus had, and is willing to pay the price He paid, can and will effectively inspire the nations, not by their own strength or might but by the Holy Spirit, to respond positively to the message of Peace, Unity and Prosperity that is always echoed by Political and Religious leaders across to races in Malaysia and the World.
Unity...the message of the Spirit of Truth.
The cultural revival that led to the birth of Parti Bersatu Sabah in Penampang sometime in the early eighties was a continuation of the struggle of the "people of God", the good-Spirited people (Nehemiah 9:20), or some preferred the term "Kadazan" but others disagreed because it is too generic a term to mean “ all humans" (Lotud )....but God knows better.
For what the enemy has intended to be the fatal end, the Lord took it as a beginning for His purpose. Following the triple-6 incident, the Koisaan Koubasanan Kadazan Sabah (KKKS) was revived with Datuk Joseph Pairin as its elected President and a group of mostly young and highly motivated individuals. These people were ordinary kampong folks but there is something unique in all of them, the love of God and the desire in their hearts of fairness and justice. Some of them knew God but were not regenerated in their spirit and renewed in their mind, in other words, they were not spiritually regenerated Christians. They could not hear or dialogue with God because the leaders of their respective Churches at that point of time lack the anointing and charisma of God. So when they were seeking for a common platform to unite the various tribes, they were given a distorted revelation. However, religion was not used as a platform because, as many at that point of time agreed, it could not achieve its purpose: religion, many thought, was a divisive denominator. Every religion practices some form of self-righteousness, a cultic type of "Holier than thou" attitude.
So culture was the unanimous choice.... thus the new logo of KCA, eventually known as KDCA, took up the theme “Unity through Culture". The apparent weakness there however was that there was no proper definition and understanding of whose culture, what culture, which culture. It was obvious from the context of the struggles of the “Innovators” that the culture they had in mind was that of the "people of God" but the actual cultural practices, traditions and philosophies predominant and existing among the Association's members as of the date this was written are totally away from the "Truth, Way and Life" that the Living, Loving, Holy and Righteous Almighty God the Creator wants for His children.
The priority that God wants the Kadazan TODAY is to put their own house in order first. He wants His children to focus their lives, thoughts and deeds on Christ (Christ-centred); and all their activities, whether personal or corporate, private or public, must be organized and conducted on the basis and according to the Knowledge and Word of God which is given in the Holy Bible.
The foundation of our cultural practices must be of God and it is of God. It must be based on Love for God is LOVE. (1 John 3:8) It is the unconditional and self-sacrificing love (agape love) which is manifested when Kinoingan (the Creator) offered Huminundun (the Sacrifice One) to be sacrificed so that the Kadazan (people or children of God) could have food after the "flesh" of Huminundun was planted and became padi: and Huminundun was resurrected after Kinoingan's will had been fulfilled after which her name was changed to Huminodun (Resurrected).
Suminundu (the Miraculous One) is the third person of the Trinity, the "unseen" active Person who is responsible for all the miracles in Jesus earthly life. This is the basic foundation on which the Kadazan Culture sits on and yet many, if not all, had missed the critical significance it bears to their survival as the "Chosen Ones" of Kinoingan. (Disciples of Jesus are "spiritual Jews", partakers of the abrahamic covenant.)
The missing link is the "WRITTEN WORD” (THE LOGOS) which was destroyed when our fore father crossed the seas because it was tied to his loin. This is the legend that had been handed by word of mouth from generation to generation.
If we were to compare, for instance, the provision of John 3:16, " God so loved the world that he sent His only Begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but will have everlasting life" and the fact that Jesus' body became our "spiritual food", there should be no further doubt that the God in the Bible is the same Kinoingan that was revealed to our great, great, great... grandfather. Thanks to God, the early Christian missionaries who came to us were on "Special Order" by God to hand that missing link to us: JESUS who is the Word of God that became Man (Kadazan), so that we may be nourished and properly equipped to fulfill our assignment and tackle the enemies. So the word of God, which is found in the Holy Bible, is a daily ration for the "inner man" and this is consumed through reading, studying, meditating and practicing them.
Huminundun's flesh coincidentally became 'rice' which is our staple food. And the three Persons of Kinoingan, Huminundun and Suminundu are the three Persons of the Trinity. And let us examine their identities revealed to us, Kinoingan or Kinorohingan is the Elderly or Fatherly One; Huminundun is the Sacrificed One (Jesus is the sacrificial lamb); Suminundu is the Miraculous one, all miracles are brought about through and by the Holy Spirit. This bears close resemblance to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity except that Huminodun and Suminundu are revealed as “females". No doubt, the revelation received was distorted and incomplete as God's perfect revelation of Himself, the Word that became flesh, came from the Jews, God's chosen people for this purpose.
THE MISSING LINK
Many authors believed that the "Logos" which is the written word of God, PRESERVED at the expense of millions of human lives in the Bible to-day, is that missing link; and because of the absence of this written word of God, we did not have the full revelation of God and were unable to commune with HIM and enter into His throne of Grace in the third Heavens.
Odu Ginayam, once a bobohizan herself, narrated how her teacher, a very prominent bobohizan in Penampang in the late 18 century, explained to them the spiritual realm. This one concerns Hibabou or Heaven. There were 7 steps that go to Heaven (Hibabou) and the "best" bobohizan can only ascend to the 4th step because beyond that, the place is so bright, brighter than 1,000 or more suns put together; after the 7th step is Kinoingan's throne. Her divato (the guiding evil spirit) simply cannot move up.
But as born-again believers, who are spiritually regenerated and moving in the Spirit and clothed with the robe of righteousness, which is the blood of Jesus, we can enter and have direct access to the throne of Grace of the Heavenly Father to praise, worship and submit our petition to Him. That is the privilege of the children of God (John 1:12), the fellowship of the Heavenly Father, a royal priesthood. (Hebrew 10:19)
UNITY is the function of the Holy Spirit
This is because the prime objective of the devil is to separate man from God, and promote aggressively among men disunity. If we were to just scratch the surface of the iceberg, think about thousands of religious or denominational bodies we have in this world, the world system of politics, business, economy, education, sports, entertainment and the list goes on.... in summary, it propagates what the devil trapped Eve with in the garden of Eden, self-centeredness and the desire to be god. But Jesus had no "religion"! (Religion is defined here as man's own attempt through his human intellect and power to know and return to God.) He also had no denomination. Man, through religion, failed miserably to return and be reconciled with God. Jesus became the ONLY way for all of us to return to the Heavenly Father. (John 14:6) This is the only KEY that opens the gate of Heaven. Don't miss it and if you have the key, use it wisely.
He came with one single purpose - to reconcile us, and become friend, with God and offered Himself as a price (bohi) for our release. He wanted us to be reunited with God, and after securing our release, gave us the power to chase away "the thieves, the trespassers, murderers, robbers, the devils" so that our loved ones, neighbors and fellowmen who are still under demonic bondages could be set free so that they also could be united with us, in one Body, one Spirit, One Gospel and One Head who is Jesus Christ.
FOUNDATION OF UNITY
Obviously, Unity that works and glorifies GOD must be that type of Unity that conforms to His sovereign purpose which is founded on Trust, Love, Respect or Honor and Understanding or Wisdom.
Perhaps the right perspective should be "Unity through the Holy Spirit" or "Semangat Bersatu Teres Perpaduan".
IMPORTANT CONCLUSION
Let us unite to do the perfect will of God for us as individual child of God and as a Chosen Generation for making known the wonderful message of Christ, that the Devil had been defeated and has no more authority over men, to every race and nation. Let us also work hard to equip ourselves and become skilful in tapping the resources of Heaven and become Jesus' good friends.
By doing so, we are continuing the works of Jesus in destroying and pulling down the works of the Devils. Let us enrolled in the Army of Christ, be trained in spirit, mind and body; put on the full armor of God and joined in the company of Joshua and marched in Victory! Jesus is our Commander-in-Chief and He has already Won. We only declare and proclaim His victory to the defeated enemies. Halleluiah!
That is how one can contribute positively in keeping God fearing leaders, and the Party they represent that God empowers to form the Government, right on its track in doing HIS will for this Beloved Nation of ours.... MALAYSIA.
"Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and the patience of Christ. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen." (2TH 3:5; EPH 6:24) MARANATHA!
No comments:
Post a Comment