So here it is, starting from one of the major dissents among those who were close to Pak Tong, when he introduced his new protege Michael Liu. Many troubled Tong, some tried to bring up certain other protege of their own (Rev. Lin with Alex) in hope that Dr. Tong would not consider Michael. All these, of course, were done inconspicuously.
Now it is clear, that Alex's not into any ministries as they would think. He's moving back and forth between theology and philosophy, between teaching and writing books, between colleges that he praised that would accept him; While Michael Liu has started a church. I'm not looking at how successful Michael Liu will be, but at least he has attempted it, that's what counts.
Enough said, time has proven the matter.
Come to think of David Tong, I would say, to lead a ministry, one must take the initiative, if he doesn't, for survival, he could only rely on degrees and inherited reputation which he certainly has that one more than Alex. Unlike Alex, David has the right direction, but initiative awaits.
Alex's failure at this became obvious when he saw reformed theology and running Gospel rally as a contradiction. He was invited to do a few before, but his attitude problem in apologetics with love thwarted him from that path. He may deny this, only because there are support (material) he cherishes still, from this early cause of his, from those who are not up to date with current news.
Now that enough time has passed, let's look back: My prediction on ShaoKai Tseng (曾劭愷) was spot on. He's now just hiding in his pen and ivory tower while indulging himself with a player's lifestyle that he once was. His cover? I guess are the confused Christians who are supporting him, other than his pen. These Christians probably still think he's Pak Tong's protege or something, and since they "support" Pak Tong, of course the need to keep supporting the next person will go to Alex. As for the rest of his supporters, I guess they have the same desire of indulgence.
Now on Michael Liu (刘崇佑). He is in what I call the reason I am reluctant to just brand whatever I want to do as God's calling. He wanted to start a church, that's great. But the toll needed to start something like that, and the responsibility thereof, are not something humanly possible. Knowing the Bible well, secretly listening to others' sermons, calling out on people's faults without deeper thought, hugging babies, all these do not validate one's calling from God nor one's care for God's children. The true sign is seen in the consistency in upholding God's word in the people's heart, in all people that one deals with, in season or out of season. Now Michael Liu has done better than Alex in ministry, because he put himself in a position to fellowship with the people of God, instead of the fellowship of the VIP. However, because he subscribes to the help of Redeemer's City to City program, he is probably forced to tune down his message to be not so offending to the world. This is where he lost his consistency. His life has gone from the brothers' charity in Flushing to the providence in Jakarta seminary and now to the support of City to City in Taiwan. One has to ask him: What is your vision? Or do we presume that you understood "What is thy biding, Lord" to be "wherever help comes, where I shall be."
If I cannot ask these people these questions, that is fine. But my action should be consistence, Soli Deo Gloria. That means not keep saying "Soli Deo Gloria", but actually make it known. For example, I can tell the people around me: Are you satisfied in your servitude to God by just "donating" to these people? Serve the Lord with fear. That means not cowering before people who try to bribe me in the name of decorum, friendship, Christianity or whatever else the humanists worship these days.
Now I can probably conclude about Michael Liu. Time has passed, those who were trying to make accusations against Liu had proven their folly. He never wanted to take over Tong's ministry as many had "feared". In fact, I can even say that there's a rebellion in him that would not allow him so. The kind of rebellion that despised these rank seeking folks.
I would say this much, if there's any problem with Liu is this, he was an angry person when he was in New York. Probably still is. He had done enough to learn some humility. Thus, to handle him, requires the sort that loves children. Unfortunately, the one given this task, Rev. Laura Lin, failed miserably - Take a look at her Laudamus Children Choir and one can easily tell. So, very quickly, Michael left and by God's grace, Tong received him. Whether with the hope of nurturing him after Tong's style, I believe even Tong would leave it to God, but he would do his best on Liu. For Liu. This is perhaps the split of many fame seekers from Tong, after following him loyally so many years, anticipating perhaps subconsciously, some sort of recognition by Tong that should exceed the unknown newbie like Michael Liu. Old timers such as 李建安 left. Rev Lin went into a temporal melt-down, temporal because she probably reminded herself "Tong's wife's my BFF, not Tong", Tseng suddenly made a 180 degree turn against Tong.
Was all these due to the fact that they somehow saw and couldn't handle Michael Liu's tantrum? Whether Tong saw it in Liu or not, it's besides the point, a mature person should be able to handle this. When Liu tried to accuse me of not teaching or not wanting to teach the Bible rightly to the kids at CCCNY...I thought to myself, well, first of all, not my church; second of all, he was making me responsible for the Sunday Schools that I did not teach before, so, I let him vent, and see how well he could do - which wasn't much because he couldn't even work with Rev. Liu, perhaps out of his pride, plus he was struggling in NY, perhaps financially.
Now, Liu is back home, in Taiwan, though he could also call NY home, after all, they could have dual citizenship. Either way, it's not likely he would give up his Visa (be it Greencard or Citizenship), but one thing is to be tested, he was so quick to criticize members of a community (e.g. church) for not doing their "supposed responsibility" for the community, by the same definition of righteousness, being either a citizen or a PR of America would not excuse Liu to be responsible in America, unless of course, he's just a mere parasitic hypocrite. But Taiwan is the place for him, there are those who couldn't live independently away from family without anger issue, there are those who can't. And God's grace is indeed with Michael, even after some failed attempt to start his own virtual fellowship despite Tong's help. He at least help set up SanXia Grace Church in Taiwan. Not quite the strong preacher and "fearless" he was aspiring to be especially when he was in New York and accusing others for not doing more (which actually just turned out to be vain complaints), but good enough, better than Alex. One should not surpass the limit God has bestowed upon one. As to whether he would be able to handle the challenges ahead, if God wills, that's for the future to tell. All I can say is, the others have failed in judging and rearing him, and this proved that God's work cannot be thwarted; the others tried to raise someone else up (Alex), but not only did they fail (Alex hated these folks), but Alex had gone to the other extreme to become the man of letters.
Long story short, Michael's ministry in U.S. (I wouldn't be surprised if he has U.S. citizenship, which demands responsibility to the country, even spiritual one) has obviously ceased abruptly. It is the one in U.S. I focus on, if it has anything to do with me, with my own ministry. That was what he set out to do, that was what he apparently rebuked God's servants here (in New York) of not doing. Perhaps he's given up, perhaps not, perhaps he would say: "wait for God's calling".
It matters not, bottom line, I do believe His work in Taiwan now is still a work of God's grace to His people there. He's broken the curse of Laura Lin and her minions. He's proven them wrong. But as for working with him, then it is a question of "What is your vision here?", if not "in New York". I Think it's a fair question to ask him, based on the past facts.
What can I say of Michael Liu? All I can say is...尝过天恩的滋味、又於圣灵有分...
Therefore for comparison between Alex and Michael, I can summarize this way:
For Alex,
Books, he cares for them very much.
People around him, it's unlikely he has any care for them;
For Michael,
Books, he cares probably very little for them.
People around him, definitely cares more than Alex, but I would say it's restricted to wherever he is only, it's unlikely he would TRULY care for anyone say...in Africa, despite probably showing care for them in magazines and such.
And if I were to work with him, I have no problem, but first, if there's any level of good working relationship, I would need him to clarify one thing: What actually happened that Sunday Evening after his talk with Rev. Lin after service. It was supposed to be something great, that we can all work together for the church but they both had to screw it up, to ruin something so simple, perhaps out of some ego? To a point that he would stood me up as I waited outside in Central Park for his promised call for so long only to realized how long it had been and called him to only found out he had actually "stormed" back to Flushing. That, is the attitude I need it fixed. Rev. Lin is kind of a gone case for me, she's either in God's or the Devil's hands now. But I would still have a prayer for Michael.
A better Analysis I can make, this time, between Rev. Laura Lin & Michael Liu:
With Rev. Lin, her problem is a theological one: Uzzah's servitude is to be praised.
With Michael Liu, the problem is a personal/character one: Would one trust him enough to work with him?