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The following comment came from a pastor in Kuching, Sarawak.
Dear Pastor Steven Wong,
Greetings to you in Jesus Christ!
I am Pastor C***** from E***** B***** Church in Kuching, Sarawak. I happened to buy your book "Exposing Chinese Ancestor Worship" from Popular Book Shop and I want to say that your book is a Blessing to me.
I am also English educated guy and I have little knowledge about ancestor worship. Praise God we can now know more about this religious practice from your book and it also helps to clarify a number of issues for us as believers in Christ.
May I know how can I order more of your book? I am planning to promote your book to our Church members.
Thanks. Be blessed!
ps: Name "*****" withheld for purpose of masking identity.
The Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Mainland China region, which in this case includes Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
Before the handover of Hong Kong and Macau back to Mainland China, the People's Republic of China (PRC) considers the residents of these two areas as "Oveseas Chinese Status". However, after the official handover back to the motherland, the Status was removed.
Some Chinese people in other lands who are of partial Chinese ancestry i.e. either one of their parents or their grandparents is Chinese, also do consider themselves as Overseas Chinese.
Below is an uncompleted list of Overseas Chinese in the various countries:
Total population of Overseas Chinese = 39,379,784
Regions with significant populations
Majority populations
Singapore 2,684,936
Christmas Island, Australia 1,045
Minority populations
Indonesia 7,566,200
Thailand 7,153,240
Malaysia 7,070,500
United States 3,376,031
Canada 1,612,173
Peru 1,300,000
Vietnam 1,263,570
Philippines 1,146,250
Burma 1,101,314
Russia 998,000
Australia 614,694
Japan 519,561
Cambodia 343,855
United Kingdom 296,623
France 230,515
India 189,470
Laos 185,765
Cuba 170,000
Brazil 151,649
New Zealand 147,570
Netherlands 144,928
South Korea 137,790
Panama +100,000
In Southeast Asia and particularly in Malaysia and Singapore, the countries classifies the Peranakan as Chinese despite their partial assimilation into the Malay culture.
"...Buddha statue stolen again. 1000-year-old idol missing since September 14. A priceless brass statue of Buddha said to be over 1000 years old has been stolen from the Buppharam Thai Buddhist Temple in Perak Road here..."
The Chinese people have always worshiped idols. However a recent trip to Beijing made me discover that the earliest emperors did not worship idols at all. Instead, they erected an architectural marvel called the "Temple of Heaven" where once a year, the emperors would worship the God of Heaven at His Temple.
This is a similar practice to the Jews who approached Jehovah God once a year to ask for forgiveness of sins and God's blessing for the coming year. Could it be that the Chinese people are part descendants of the Jewish race. (Humor: a shrewd Chinese businessman has always been called a Jew).
Back to this idol, it is ironical to read that a god can be stolen eventhough a god's aim is to protect the people who worship him. It this case, it can be assumed that the thief saw a greater value in the brass content of the statue, due to the high price of brass in the reseller's junk yard, rather than the protection of the idol.
Why do people worship a god that can be stolen? What do you think?
Are people worshiping blindly? Do they comprehend logically their actions toward this idol?
Would replacing this idol with another restore their faith in the replacement?
Is this trend coming back again in China since their former leader Chairman Mao Tze Tung is no longer in rule to oppress such practices? What do you observe?
These questions will make you think a little bit more about ancestor worship:
Do ancestors hold us back?
Should we continue to worship the memory of our forefathers or is it an expensive waste of time?
Devotion to ancestors is widespread across the country where many people consult spiritual mediums as a way of seeking advice from those that have died.
Even religious leaders in China are alarmed by the rise in ancestor worship and claim it has no place in today's economically advanced and modernistic society.
How much do ancestors influence your life?
Does their memory inspire or scare you?
Do you have ancestral duties yourself?
Are your antecedents holding you back? Or giving you spiritual guidance?
Why do you worship your ancestors?
Book Review on "Exposing Chinese Ancestor Worship"
by Rev. Lai Moo Him, Executive Secretary for National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF)
The author of this book states his intention, in the preface, of wishing to 'mark out a conclusive line of division between what is ancestor worship, what is culture, and what is the stand from a Christian perspective.' He has succeeded admirably in this. In doing so, he has done a great service to the Christian community in Malaysia by giving a comprehensive introduction to the intricacies of Chinese culture and the difficulties that so often beset Chinese Christians in their dealings with staunchly traditional families.
The chapters are well thought out and well presented. While it is not meant to be an exhaustive study of all aspects of ancestor worship, the author provides practical, and more importantly, Biblical, treatments of topics such as conduct during funerals and weddings (Chapter 5), and the question of filial piety – all of which are extremely relevant in Malaysian Chinese culture. Another valuable resource is to be found in Chapter 10, which gives Christian substitutes for ancestor worship – something that has, thus far, seldom been addressed by the Christian community at large, and which is becoming more and more necessary as time goes on.
The multicultural melting pot of Malaysian society raises a great many complex questions for local Christians, especially with regards to various cultural practices. This book makes a start by addressing some of these concerns. It is indeed timely, and an essential reference for anyone wishing to seek sound Biblical perspectives and practical guidelines on dealing with Chinese ancestor worship.
The book "Exposing Chinese Ancestor Worship" has been extremely popular. There have been many testimonies coming back about how they benefited from the book.
In Malaysia, it is not just distributed through Christian bookstores but also Mainstream / Non-christian bookstores. MPH Distributors has ordered the books to be distributed and sold at all major bookstores such as Kinokuniya, Popular, Times, MPH, Borders, etc. This is a tremendous breakthrough as a Christian witness.
In Singapore, Alby Commercial Entr. has asked for the distribution for all Christian and Mainstream bookstores in Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. Pray with me that the whole Asia Pacific including the rest of the world will be impacted with the teaching from this book.
For those in Singapore, and are interested to get a copy / distributorship, please contact:
ALBY COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES PTE LTD,
95 KALLANG AVENUE,
#04-00 AIS INDUSTRIAL BUILDING
SINGAPORE 339420
TEL: 02-62927238
EMAIL: lorenze@pacific.net.sg
Contact: Lawrence Lee
ps: If you are interested to distribute the book in other countries, please email me at: wkp2020@gmail.com. God bless you.
Lately I had been asked what is inside the book.
What kind of topics do you talk about?
What problems do you tackle?
So, I thought I will list the Content page of the book here to answer some of the questions:
Contents
What Is Ancestor Worship?
History Of Chinese Ancestor Worship
Ancestor Worship In Other Cultures
Ancestor Worship Through Technology
Practices Of Chinese Ancestor Worship
Funeral Practices
All Souls Day (Qing Ming)Practices
Wedding Practices
Festival Practices
Other General Practices
The Catholic Church And Ancestor Worship
The Protestant Church And Ancestor Worship
Is Filial Piety The Same As Ancestor Worship?
The Christian Answer To Ancestor Worship
The Christian Substitute To Ancestor Worship
A Quick Comparison Between Ancestor Worship And The Bible (Word Of God)
Frequently Asked Questions
Interview With Brother KS Lai, A Former Staunch Practitioner Of Ancestor Worship
The picture below shows the new poster which was designed by Firstfruits Sdn Bhd to be displayed at leading bookstores such as Canaanland, Malaysia.
Canaanland's addresses are as follows:
Unit 2-15, Perdana The Place,
1 Jalan PJU 8/5G,
Bandar Damansara Perdana,
47820 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, MALAYSIA
Tel: 03-77264233, 77278233
&
8th Floor, Menara TA One,
22 Jalan P. Ramlee,
50250 Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA
Tel: 03-21662600/1
&
F14 (First Floor), Centrepoint,
Lebuh Bandar Utama,
47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, MALAYSIA
Tel: 03-77260461
If you can't get a copy of the book at the bookstores, send me an email: wkp2020@gmail.com
We are also looking for International Distributors.
If you are interested, send me an email.
Thanks.
Nobody can deny that to honor our ancestors is the right thing to do.
We would not be alive in this world today if not for our parents, grand parents, great grandparents, great great grandparents, and great...great...etc.
It was in the purpose of God that we came from this lineage just as Jesus' lineage was specified in the Bible for all generations to observe - and all Bible scholars to study.
Lest I be accused of dishonoring my ancestors, there is a stark difference between honoring them while they are alive and worshiping them when they are dead.
I believe, that the current practice of ancestor worship in many countries is worship and that is wrong. Worship is only to be accorded to God and no one else. All other forms of worship is idolatry and especially worship to a created being - man.
Let's decide to honor them, respect them - and not worship them.
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