Pastor’s Testimony

Dear Family & Friends,

I never think of one day I will go to Singapore Baptist Theological Seminary to study Master of Divinity (After graduation from US, I told myself I am a free man ! But now I am His servant).  I never think of one day I will become a full time pastor (I told God that I could do any job except pastor.  My desire is to be a successful businessman to serve God but now I am doing God’s business directly!). I never think of one day I could preach on the pulpit (Sometime I had hard time to express my thought clearly).  I never think of planting a new Baptist church (Golden Lampstand Baptist Church) in JB, Malaysia without supporting from a mother church & I need to put my little faith on God fully (I know the difficulties of planting a new church.  I could have choose to work under some ‘rich church’ ! “why I need to choose the tough way”  I just can’t believe it ! ).  God always works in our life beyond what you think or believe.

As one of my mentors said that the one who choose to plant a new church is having ‘mental problem’.  I remembered that one of my family members told my wife that I am a bit crazy for the Lord.  Are you crazy to serve the Lord ?  If you are not crazy for the Lord, you might crazy for something else.  Matt 22:37, Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’

This month, I have a fruitful short mission trip to China.  By God grace, we have total four OU Sooner (Tony, Leon, Paul, & me) together to minister to the local leaders.  Amazingly, I had no bathing for four days in my whole life !  In this training, I learned the power of prayer & walk closer to God is the secret to effective ministry.  After the few days of training for the ruler people, I was left alone on the fifth day to give a whole day session to another city group in town (I called it advanced training). 

 I also thank God for the opportunity to do it alone so that I need to depend on Him fully.  In fact, I never expect people will bring three non-believers for the disciple training.  It is a real exercise for our faith.  In front of the people, I ‘force’ to use these ‘three real non-believers’ to train people how to witness & share gospel.  Praise God !  He honored His name.  All of them confessed their sins and accepted Christ as their savior.  God puts a fire into their hearts !  Are you on fire ?  John 15:8 My true disciples produce much fruit.  This brings great glory to my Father.

 Joshua Tham, The Lampstand Family

4. Send

In this part of the Golden 12 cell group strategy, the Christian begins to lead his own open cell, is invited to join a Golden 12 group and works towards developing his Golden 12 group (made up of leaders whom he will mentor).

We believe cell group is one of the most effective way of multiplication is done through the cells thereby allowing each leader to reach his spiritual potential. The cells fulfill Jesus’ statement;

“For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them” Matt 18:20.

Within the cells, members will role model after their leader to evangelize, edify, form character and form values. A new believer joins the open cell and goes through the stages of Win, Consolidate and Disciple till he is ready to lead his own open cell ( Send stage). Once he catches the vision, he is in turn invited to join a Golden 12 group.

Golden 12 group. This is a leadership development group. It is made up of people who are currently leading cells. Up to 12 of these leaders will be grouped together and mentored by a leader who helps them to disciple their own group of 12. Golden 12 meetings are held once a week with the emphasis on mentoring.

Open cells. The main emphasis of the open cell is evangelism. It is made up of a leader and several members who are committed to meeting on a regular basis to evangelise, thus forming Christian character and values in the process.

3. Disciple

After new believers have been consolidated, they need to be discipled.
“Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” Heb 5:13-14.

Discipleship will also equip believers to obey the Great Commission:
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matt 28:18-20.

The Three Levels of the School Of Leaders are conducted in the form of lectures and seminars.

SOL 1 – Covers doctrines such as salvation, repentance, the word of God and the Holy Spirit. There are different seminars for the Men’s, Women’s, and Youth Networks catering to their different needs. Level One focuses on theology and family.
Commitment 2: Maturity Covenant   (To grow people to spiritual maturity)

SOL 2 – Covers the church vision, cell group and strategies for growth. It also teaches the cell leader how to solve problems and how to choose a leadership team. The seminars teach about intercession, evangelism and service. This level focuses on cells and ministry.
Commitment3:   Ministry Covenant (To equip people with the skills they need for ministry)

SOL 3 – Teaches leadership. Believers learn about the call and the cost of leadership, principles of excellence in leadership and types of leadership. The lecturers also cover practical advice for preaching. The seminars teach consolidation, Holy Spirit and counselling. Level Three focuses on establishing and developing the disciple as a leader.
Commitment 4: Mission Covenant  (To enlist people to the worldwide mission of sharing Christ)

2. Consolidate

Consolidation is very important to keep the new believer in the church so he or she can be discipled. Because it is so critical, it needs to be properly done. Upon the prebeliever’s decision to accept Jesus as his Lord and Saviour, the consolidator or cell leader should:

• Get and verify the new believer’s particulars
• Pray for him with genuine concern
• Arrange for a visit
• At the home visit, assess his needs
• Thereafter, walk through the Pre-Encounter / T4T with him.

Pre-Encounter / T4T
The Pre-Encounter is designed to prepare the new believer for the Encounter Weekend. The Pre-Encounter is essential for the new believer to receive maximum impact and value at the Encounter Weekend. The lessons will walk the new believer through the basics of the Christian faith, covering topics such as the new birth, our salvation, the power of Scriptures and the principles of deliverance.

Encounter Weekend / Experiencing God Seminar
The Encounter is conducted over two days like a retreat. The Encounter is the new believer’s experience of coming face to face with God and His Word. During the weekend the participant is confronted with his past and is led to deal with all the negative influences in his life. It is also here that the participant and the vision receives the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Post-Encounter
Fresh from the Encounter Weekend, the believer goes through ten lessons of the Post-Encounter so that he is equipped with the Word of God to deal with the attacks of Satan.  The Post-Encounter teaches believers how to relate to the world, friends and problems and how to overcome temptation, the flesh, sin and the devil. The Post-Encounter teaching will produce greater fruitfulness in the disciples and will result in an unprecedented increase in the retention of new believers.

Commitment 1:        Membership Covenant
(To lead people to Christ and membership at GLBC)

1. Win

GLBC is a cell church to actively obey His great commandment and great commission.  A cell group is our member’s “second family”, it is a safe place to learn and share our thought and feeling to one another.  Everyone in the family learns to respect, understand, treasure and protect one another.   Cell group is also a place to share Good News and disciple training.

 Simple Goal & Strategy : Seek 12 & Train 12 (Win, Consolidate, Disciple, Send)

 i. Win

 God’s desire is for the lost. We must recognise the urgency of winning people to Christ, and be constantly engaged in evangelism. Because God’s desire is for “all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim2:4), it takes a whole army of men and women who are saved and transformed by Christ to share the gospel.

The 3×3 model of prayer
Evangelism begins with prayer. Implement this simple but effective prayer strategy.

Step 1:
Begin with three Christians in your cell.

Step 2:
Each member asks God for three pre-believing friends.

Step 3:
During the 1st week, the three members pray daily synchronised prayer and fast for the nine names of prebelievers. This continues for the whole month.

Step 4:
In the 2nd week, each member makes phone contact with the prebelievers.

Step 5:
In the 3rd week, the Christians share about Jesus and invite the prebelievers to the cell meeting.

Step 6:
In the 4th week, the Christians invite the prebelievers to the church service.