A Different Kind Of SIB

Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,

Acts 5:13-14

If preachers and church pastors can be given Internet ratings, my five stars will go to this man, Pastor Daniel Tan from Sidang Injil Borneo Life (SIBLife). Three days ago, he was invited to preach at the Full Gospel Assembly Kuala Lumpur (FGAKL), and as soon as he started speaking, I was hooked, listening to him right till the end of his sermon. I gave my full attention to this preacher, that I hardly do to most others in Malaysia.

He joins the ranks of notable and truthful preachers, similar to the ones mentioned in this blog before, like Franklin Morias (Hope Evangelical Free Church, Kuala Lumpur) and Pastor Saw Lip Hean (FGAKL). These are the men whom churchgoers would attentively listen to, and when they finish with their words, they would leave the crowd in awe, marvelling at what they say. These preachers astonish others with their teachings, and they preach with great authority like Christ (Luke 4:32).

A Charismatic Preacher Of Truth

Unlike most other preachers from Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) churches in Southeast Asia, Pastor Daniel Tan stands out from the rest, simply because he identifies himself with true love, true righteousness and true justice. While Malay dictionaries would translate the word righteousness as “kebenaran”, but Pastor Daniel Tan opines and stated that righteousness should instead be correctly translated as “keadilan”, similar to standard translations given to the English word justice. What he said sets me thinking, and I found it difficult to disagree with him. Because, the deeds of righteousness is all about being fair and doing what is right before God and men.

Though Pastor Daniel Tan did not incessantly speak about righteousness, but in each of the sermons delivered by him, you will hear him mention the word “honesty”, and he uses honesty as the guiding principle to encourage his flock to seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness. But what made me say that this man is a true preacher from God, is the fact that he reads the Bible, he preaches straight from the Bible, he adds nothing to it, and he takes away nothing from it.

He also quipped the crowd last Sunday when he spoke in FGAKL, by stating that it is honest people who go to heaven. By reading the Bible and understanding the inverse; those mentioned in the Bible as not going to heaven, found in Ephesians 5:5 and Revelation 21:8, it is also difficult to disagree with Pastor Daniel Tan, in regard to what he said concerning honest men going to heaven.

He is like a preacher who stands at the middle of the spectrum, from one end he draws the distinction of truth from the likes of John McArthur, and against the heresies of Joel Osteen at the other end. Pastor Daniel Tan speaks and preaches the truth, but yet he is from the charismatic denomination. He is a type of preacher that I would consider as sort of rare breed; because very often we don’t hear the truth from most charismatic church preachers, whether in Malaysia or from anywhere around the world.

Pastor Daniel Tan is the founding pastor of Sidang Injil Borneo Life (SIBLife), a fast-growing church located at Ara Damansara, Selangor, with branches in Tronoh and Lumut as well.

Taking Swipes At False Prophets

In his own words, Pastor Daniel Tan openly spoke against false prophets by saying that a lot of people chase after prophecies and prophets, although many things spoken by these prophets were never fulfilled. Why do you chase after prophets and prophecies, when God has clearly given us His word, through the Bible, he said further.

Say that again, a founding preacher from a SIB church, rebuking false prophets directly from a church pulpit? Now, how often do you see that happen in this country? Pastor Daniel Tan reasoned by encouraging Christians to align themselves with honesty, and to be impacted by what is real and truthful, and what comes from the true God in heaven, instead of relying on false prophecies and false prophets.

And in line with his identity in Christ, he chose to wisely use the platform given him, to expose the unfruitful works of darkness (Ephesians 5:11), while encouraging Christians to walk as children of Light, in goodness, righteousness and in truth. (Ephesians 5:8-11).

A Beacon For Sound Doctrine

“If you don’t shine, darkness will overcome you. … You know when corrupted people, sentenced, put in jail, you actually have people (in Malaysia), still supporting this corrupted person. I call this (being) morally bankrupt.”

Pastor Daniel Tan

During his sermon a week ago at his own church (SIBLife), while preaching from the book of Ephesians, he gave an uneasy example of greedy Christians.

He asked two men to stand next to him on stage, and he drew the picture to the crowd, depicting one of them as a “robber”. And the second person likes that guy and supports him. And next, Pastor Daniel Tan pictures himself as supporting the second person, who in turn supports the first guy, who is a robber.

He said he does not mind supporting the second person, because that guy gives him money and supports his church. And he wants to make the second person the leader of his community, his town, his church, his nation, his next generation etc. And he is doing this, because the second person always give money to his church. This, according to Pastor Daniel Tan, is called greed.

And let me tell you people who are greedy, Christians who are greedy, you call yourselves Christians, I’ll show you one example. It does not matter if he still supports the first person who is a robber, as long as he gets money from the second guy. “We have a problem (here), (called) futile thinking.” said Pastor Daniel Tan.

In Ephesians, Paul said, you should not be partners with them. As long as he gives you benefit, you support him as a partner. By doing this, you are in serious trouble, Pastor Daniel Tan cautioned. Your next generation, will reap the fruits of your darkness and your unrighteousness.

Do you still need me to explain to you, why it is my opinion that Pastor Daniel Tan from SIBLife is a preacher of truth, and he speaks with full authority from God?

SIBLife, A Growing Church Despite Recent Pandemic Setbacks

In FGAKL 3 days ago, Pastor Daniel Tan also said that despite the pandemic, people numbers are still growing in his church. And each week, at least between 10 and 20 percent of attendees in his church, are new faces. To me, this is quite phenomenal, for a smaller church, not yet considered to be called a megachurch. How could this be happening, while most others are seeing dwindling numbers among their churchgoers?

If you could turn with me to Acts Chapter 5:12-16, as follows:-

“And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. AND BELIEVERS WERE INCREASINGLY ADDED TO THE LORD, MULTITUDES OF BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. Also, a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

The things described by Pastor Daniel Tan that is happening in his church (SIBLife), reminds me of what transpired at the Solomon’s porch, when the apostles were preaching, and healing the sick among the people. Despite witnessing how both Ananias and his wife collapsed and died on the spot after being questioned by Peter, yet the Bible recorded the phenomenon that BELIEVERS WERE INCREASINGLY ADDED among them.

As much as any preacher would like to see membership growth in their own home ground, unless the Holy Spirit sends people to listen to His messages of truth, and unless the Holy Spirit does this, instead of coming to church, people will soon go away. It happened among the apostles, and we are seeing the same thing happening again today. Preachers who speak the truth, are experiencing increasing newcomers in their church whereas the false preachers and false churches, even the least of what they have among them, shall soon be taken away from them.

What Pastor Daniel Tan does in SIBLife – he is practically pulling it off like a John McArthur, preaching in Osteen’s Lakewood Church. Unbelievable! I shared this with my son, and he said to no surprise, that it is those in Osteen’s church who need to hear the warnings, because those from McArthur’s church already knew the truth. This is probably the reason why Daniel Tan is placed by God among the charismatics.