saved or lost?

If it weren't for the captions, one would find it hard to believe that the photos were taken from church worships.

A friend from school brought to my attention a recent, 11-page Straits Times Saturday special report on megachurches in Singapore. 11 pages! I wonder if this means anything to Christians and non-Christians alike. Is Christianity merely a religion to be juxtaposed with other faiths? Is this how the world sees Christianity – just another religion? 唐崇荣牧师说过:"要把人为宗教与神的启示分开来。"也说:"宗教是伟大的，因为宗教是人内在的生活对上帝的普遍启示所产生的反应，而文化是人的外在生活对普遍启示的反应。"

From the Saturday special report:

"You may criticise the feel-good theology of Joseph Prince and the prosperity gospel. But some churches make you feel bad. They are all the time preaching brimstone and hellfire. We need balanced teaching from the pulpit." (Dr. Bobby Sng, president of the Bible Society of Singapore)

"It's just growth in a different way for megachurches. The traditional way was to plant another church. For the megachurches, it's to get big where you are. So it's more of a 'come' approach, rather than a 'go' approach.” (Dr. Fong Choon Sam, dean of academic studies at the Baptist Theological Seminary)

"On the other side, there are some churches which are so dead, they are an embarrassment to God. The Corpus Christi (body of Christ) is like a corpse. They need to change or they will end up like churches in England with only 12 people attending." (Prominent Pastor of a large mainline church in central Singapore)

I could not believe what I was reading. These are not casual remarks made by a normal church member, but, appallingly, by religious leaders. First, the notion of "the more you give, the more blessed you are by God" is not scriptural. Secondly, since when did church planting, an eternal truth stated in the Great Commission, become a tradition? And lastly, does God feel embarrassed just because there are less followers of Christ that cling onto the Truth, while many church-hop around until they find a 'gospel' that can be tailored to suit them?

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Paulo Coelho, a Catholic himself and author of the international bestseller, The Alchemist, said "The danger is that every religion, including the Catholic one, says, "I have the ultimate truth." Then you start to rely on the priest, the mullah, the rabbi, or whoever, to be responsible for your acts. In fact, you are the only one who is responsible." His remark is true to a certain extent, but he misses out the most important thing – reliance on God.