Dr Stephen Goh FGBMF Malaysia is a recognized evangelistic body and has impacted many lives who do not know Christ especially among men with influence in their workplace. Through out its 29 years of existence it has provided the impetus to revival and the growth of churches. With 102 chapters through out Malaysia and a recently purchased head office the Ministry’s cutting edge is derived from its members, professionals who have found their faith and are willing to spend time and money to bring Christ to those whom they are in contact with. Many are committed after experiencing a life-changing encounter with Christ and they are willing to share through this Ministry which provides the platform for them. Although the founding fathers have gone to be with the Lord, the continued existence and vibrancy of the Fellowship is a testament to their faith. However, questions have been asked as to where the FGBMF is heading. Has it lost its cutting edge and is it still relevant in an era of branding and globalization? Have its meeting become similar to other evangelistic bodies with no special attributes of a cutting edge. I offer these ideas after having been in the Ministry for the last 25 years.

The good news is that FGBMF need not reinvent itself as its global brand has been in existence since 1952. The founder, Demos Shakarian has called for intensifying the vision and its global expansion and success is now res ipsa loquitur. However the post-founders leadership under Mr Lee Gee Koon are mindful of the “plateau” development in chapters and impact of the Fellowship. Although some development has taken place among the Chinese speaking chapters concern has been expressed about what has been perceived as slow growth. To strengthen the FGBMF the National Board at its meetings and special prayer sessions have identified certain actions to be taken. The consensus is that the FGBMF needs upright and committed leaders and a fully equipped membership. If leaders are found short in their righteous living the leadership is prepared to sacrifice them. This has resulted in leadership being cleansed. Through constant prayer meetings and the training of leaders concerning our core business and a unique plan to connect with the majority of people at the workplace, the FGBMF should regain the impact it once had. The education of members to be FGBMF men is a work still in progress. These approaches require time and outside help to conduct seminars. The services of the National Secretary, Dr Wong Hong Meng have been enlisted in time and energy to conduct training to the chapters throughout Malaysia. The importance of this activity is underlined by the creation of a Director of Leadership Development and Training within the National Board on his stepping down as the National Secretary in October 2008.

The FGBMF need to return to the full glory of the first twenty years. The cutting edge is where we operate and the quality of our men as manifested in their life style. Our advantage is our natural constituency which we must make full use when others have not that edge. Evangelism in the marketplace is our core business and we need to intensify the vision of Demos Shakarian as outlined in The Happiest People on Earth and to continually remind ourselves of the objectives of the Ministry. Consequently our leaders and members need to focus 100 per cent on the Fellowship. There should be no divided loyalty or time sharing in the cause of evangelism. Our leaders cannot spread themselves too thin. If our leaders feel their calling is to do church work or other erstwhile activities, the leadership will bless and release them after the procedure for such release is adhered to. This is to minimize any misunderstanding that may arise with our partners in evangelism. Men like Moses Soo are having their own ministries as The Gospel To The Poor, David Teo in the orang asli ministry through his church, Charles Yong who founded his own church, Steven Teo with his pastors fellowship and David Ong has found his calling in a church teaching and deliverance ministry, to name only a few. So I would appeal to all our leaders to embrace FGBMF as their first calling if we are to sharpen our cutting edge.

In order to enhance the cutting edge, fellowship among members and leaders in the chapters must be encouraged like the earlier Christians who meet continually and share their foods and problems as described in the Book of Acts. Through fellowship members can open up and enlist the fellow Christians for support and help. A perquisite to this is to embrace holiness as a life style. For our lives should be exemplary, seeking the Lord always, wanting his presence and a living testimony. I am suggesting for a life style to be an evangelistic tool for the cutting edge in the workplace. Eventually a culture or the FGBMF fellowship can evolve and be distinctive. This conscious development can bring about a FGBMF ethos where through our live and values, we shall have powerful testimonies to non-believers that we are trying to reach. For the embodiment of FGBMF culture and exemplary examples of FGBMF men I give the National President and Secretary. I am asking for a life style evangelism through the FGBMF and if non believers see our leaders and members as a “peculiar” people in the Bible sense and stand in awe, then FGBMF has made that impact as a particular breed worth knowing. The salvation of Christ message will then be easier to spread with a better prospect of ushering them to the Kingdom.

In addition to a holy life style which is attractive to non believers the FGBMF can add value to society with the impartation of their skills to the marketplace. Nonbelievers searching for answers to their problems involving professional knowledge will be drawn to our meetings and seminars as a first step to come to know Christ. Dr Wong Hong Meng has been conducting Financial Freedom seminars which are attracting large crowds through the Christian networking bodies. Can I pray that our members can move into healing and deliverance after Datuk Paul Low’s teaching at the coming Men’s Camp in March 2009? Our men with professional skills can volunteer themselves in the FGBMF’s efforts to connect and serve the society through these cutting edge gifts.

In order to make any meaningful impact, the FGBMF leadership must be seen as united. All of us in the FGBMF must share the same beliefs, objectives and ideals and to carry out the core business of salvation for non believers without distraction. The leaders must understand what the consensus is after deliberation and not act in tangent or under his own understanding of what is good for FGBMF and ostensibly evangelistic goals. For the collective decision had been arrived at after much deliberation and input from Board members and the Governing Council who will be aware of possibly undesirable consequences. Through the principle of safety in the multitude of counselors, once the consensus is reached, leaders should not depart from what had been decided unless further agreement is reached. I am aware that too much regulation may stifle the Holy Spirit but some sense of order and unity is necessary for the Holy Spirit beneficence to be enjoyed by all. I appeal to all leaders to be aware of the pitfalls of going it alone or be loose canon in decision making and to be committed team players with the FGBMF mission and vision in mind.

Lastly, our chapter meetings and banquets have become routine and I sense there is not much excitement unlike when the Fellowship first started. Can I suggest what is missing is the Holy Spirit? We need to invite the Holy Spirit into all our meetings. Expectations and announcements of signs and wonders should be the desirable goals. The Holy Spirit will not fail us as in the early days of the Fellowship. Our meetings, banquets, and rallies should not be just any meeting but a “Holy Spirit” meeting. This means the presence of God must be in our midst so that signs and wonders can take place. Unless we let the Holy Spirit take charge our meeting will be like any other fellowship meeting. The Holy Spirit will not grace the meeting just by verbal invitation and incantation. However, the Holy Spirit will make His presence only if certain conditions are met. These are (1) an expectation and a genuine desire for the Holy Spirit to be present in our midst (2) our lives must be right so that the Holy Spirit is already in existence and all that it needs is to manifest collectively and (3) adequate and purposeful preparation of meetings must be thought and carried out, not a last minute thing. Every chapter meeting must be strengthened through adequate prayer and the meeting must be carefully prepared. This is important as when King David wanted to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem the first attempt without preparation was a disaster as recorded in the I Chronicles 13. With his lesson in mind and for the Holy Spirit to attend, much prayer and planning are required for the Holy Spirit to come. Once the Holy Spirit is present in our midst signs and wonders will manifest and the conviction of non believers to accept Christ will follow. This feature is sadly lacking in our present chapter and banquet meetings.

I wish to reiterate that unless the Holy Spirit is present, the meeting will not succeed in terms of our objectives. With the Holy Spirit in charge much can happen beyond our expectation in term of salvation and rededications of our lives to Him. For apart from the core business of the bringing non believers to the grace and saving knowledge of Christ, the grand vision is to bring about REVIVAL first at the personal and chapter level, and through our passion infect all our partners in evangelism and churches to bring about national revival. To ensure that this snow balling effect will take place the leaders and members must be serious in our core business, passionate in their purpose and above all Holy Spirit lefted in all the FGBMF evangelistic efforts.