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Worship ... an offering to the Almighty |
Keynote address by Rev. Wong Kim Kong |
The 2006 Annual Members’
Conference (AMC) was successfully carried out in all the
five regions and all Glory to the presence of the Holy Spirit
for helping the respective organising committee to run the
programme with reverence and without any hitches.
A total of 442 members converged to
their respective venues to lend their unyielding support to the
annual gathering.
The keynote address was delivered by
Rev Wong Kim Kong on the theme ‘FGBMF Impacting the Marketplace
In The Current Environment’.
He spoke with vigour, warmth and
love yet without mincing his words for a forthright attempt to
gear the participants to sit up and take stock of the reality of
the current happenings in the environment; and how the FGBMF
could position itself to play a more pivotal role to impact the
marketplace.
He highlighted four issues
confronting the FGBMF at the marketplace today as:
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Economic Prosperity-the world
that leads us to Complacency
The greed and the constant pursuits to acquire more and more will
lead people to fall prey to the seduction of materialism. To
maximise profits people will unconsciously fall into immoral and
unethical ventures. These will eventually lead to temptation and
business will be of top priority in their lives. This state of
prosperity will evolve into misplacement wher work and leisure
will precede religious concerns.
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Political Favour-the comfort zone
that suffocates us
The subtle manner the demographic change is taking place, the rise
of militant extremism and weakening of communal political parties
are threats THE NATIONAL PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS in the environment. A
state of political apathy will result where one may perceive
political engagements as worldly.
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Religious Pluralism-the threat to
the authenticity of the truth
As FGB members begin to minister in the marketplace, they must be
aware of the religious revival among other faiths. There is a
concerted effort in their consolidation to form a resistance to
Islam and Christianity. As a body, the other faiths could now act
to be defensive and offensive. Resistance could also come from
Christians to the teachings- the more one know about God the more
one may resist the concept of God. The religious resurgence of
other faiths posed great obstacles in the sharing of the Christian
faith to others.
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Globalised Culture- the influence
that shapes our mind and life
Globalisation has brought many religions to the doorstep. The
greatest challenge faced by Christians today is the
multi-religious context-the claim of absolute truth that every
religion leads to God. The commonality established is that
religious piety and power could result in economic blessings, good
works and signs and wonders. There is a crucial distinction in
Christianity that God is a God of abundance. He meets all His
peoples’ needs. In Him should people believe and trust. Amen!
1Cor.15
was quoted to show that Christians are not perfect. Integrity,
good business ethics, one’s love for colleagues and the way you
manage your people are the cornerstone of one’s faith. Rev Wong
Kim Kong then pointed out the areas where Christians had failed:
The paradoxical witness of the Christian beliefs and actions was
where the walk did not match the talk. The preaching must be
spiritual and have practical applications. The word of God must
have relevance in the real world. The weakness of our community
engagement is when the church is isolated and not in the world.
John 17: “They are in the world but
not of the world.” The infiltration of Syncretism or adulteration
of the Christian faith is abound and therefore it is of importance
that others see the integrity and the character in a Christian
that could attract others. A Christian must be seen to be
different, with the dispositions of a righteous man of God. |
To illustrate the hallmarks that
would attract others to the Christian faith he posed the FGB
members the following thought-provoking questions:
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In what ways do we as believers
influence our community-its needs, values and practices? |
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How do we live as Christians in the
public arena-work, community, relationships, civic
responsibilities etc. |
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How vibrant and strategic is our
collective witness as God’s people to a watching world? |
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Are we distinct and unique in our
Christian lifestyle, practices and ethics? |
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How affirmative are we about the
essentials of the Gospel and the uniqueness of Christ? |
On God’s Calling for the FGBMF
MALAYSIA, Rev Wong Kim Kong said that:
God had placed the Malaysian
Christian business community in a strategic position to take the
Gospel to the lost (Acts 8:26-39).
The current leadership has the capacity to further develop the
vision and commitment of the Fellowship.
In addition, the membership had the
resources and should be adaptive so as to engage the people at
the economic level. The current reality was a future opportunity
to become an innovative force in the total socio-economic
systems of the business world for Christ.
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