Choices Ministry was founded by Sy Rogers during the expansion of Exodus Global Alliance, and started their reparative therapy program back in 1991 under the wings of Church Of Our Saviour (COOS) in Singapore. The church markets Choices as a way to salvation, a way to avoid the fires of hell. Their obsession with “curing a nation of homosexuality” has led some to label COOS as the most homophobic church in the Asian region. Choices is still closely affiliated with Exodus International through Exodus Asia Pacific.
COOS’s Senior Pastor is Derek Hong, while Choices’ most vocal proponent is ex-gay Shawn Tay Liam Yaw. Gerald Tsai is the director of Choices. COOS and Choices enthusiastically spread misinformation about what they consider the basics of homosexuality. However, to date neither the church nor the ministry have produced any reliable evidence or statistics of successful change in sexual orientation. Instead, controversy occurred at the end of 1999 when ex-gay survivor Patrick Lee shared the story of his turbulent years at COOS and Choices. And in 2003, the latter effectively declared war on gays in what was perhaps the first time the church actively lobbied against gay rights in Singapore.
Last year, discussions were on the way for the repeal of the old British Law Penal Code Section 377 and Section 377A, which deemed “carnal intercourse,” including anal and oral sex, illegal for Singaporeans. In April 2007, a hate e-mail was found circulating among the churches and other groups in Singapore in an attempt to gain support to lobby the government against the removal of the Section 377A (the homosexual counterpart to 377).
Subsequently, Section 377 was repealed and heterosexual anal and oral sex is now legal. Unfortunately, Section 377A was maintained, keeping the same for homosexuals illegal in what most quarters agree is a blatant act of discrimination. Hong’s involvement is still hidden behind church doors, except for a position statement released at their website.
For two consecutive Sundays in August, 2007, Hong fired off sermons centered directly on the issue of homosexuality. Among the blatant misinformation perpetuated on the first Sunday was the meaning of the word “arsenokoites,” presented as the Greek for “pervert” in homosexual terms while ignoring that the word more likely refers to some sort of temple prostitution or any number of other things.
On the second Sunday, Hong would have surprised even gays and lesbians when he released a copy of the “gay agenda”:
1) Strive for special rights for homosexuals, presenting themselves as equal to minority ethnic groups.
2) Governments to approve homosexual marriages and legal adoption of children.
3) Silence all parties (e.g., pro-family groups and religious institutions) who oppose their agenda.
4) Eradication of all help-groups (such as Choices) which seek to bring recovery to homosexuals.
5) Right to promote homosexuality as a viable alternative lifestyle through the education system.
During these two weekends of sermons, Hong warned the congregation of homosexual “evils” and how the spiritual and culture war must be continued. He accused gays of trying to destroy Christianity, and implied they are followers of Satan. Choices was presented during the second sermon, along with their false scientific ideologies.
Audio of both sermons are available below:
God’s Word And Homosexuality by Derek Hong.
God’s Church And Homosexuality by Derek Hong And Shawn Tay.
COOS and Choice’s focus on other areas of ministry is dwarfed by their obsession with misrepresenting gays and lesbians to the general public of Singapore and Asia. COOS frequently speaks of homosexuality as a sin, and the only one worth eradicating in this world. They fail to question other potential sins which are often glossed over (gossip, divorce, bearing false witness). Choices also stands on the ideologies of Exodus International and the National Association for the Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH). This church and its ministry appear to have strayed far from their stated Christ-centered focus, engrossed as they are by the issue of homosexuality.
A booklet released late last year by COOS called “Homosexuality Myths And Truths” best describes the state of mind at COOS and Choices — pure dogmatic bigotry at best. It’s a good read to understand the issue.
In 1844, James Russell Lowell wrote of the struggle against slavery, words which apply to our struggle for gay civil rights.
Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, for the good or evil side;
Some great cause, God’s new Messiah, offering each the bloom or blight,
Parts the goats upon the left hand, and the sheep upon the right,
And the choice goes by forever ‘twixt that darkness and that light.
Hast thou chosen, O my people, on whose party thou shalt stand,
Ere the Doom from its worn sandals shakes the dust against our land?
Though the cause of Evil prosper, yet ’tis Truth alone is strong,
And though she wander outcast now, I see around her throng
Troops of beautiful tall angels, to enshield her from all wrong…
Careless seems the great Avenger; history’s pages but record
One death-grapple in the darkness ‘twixt old systems and the Word;
Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne-
Yet that scaffold sways the future and behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.
Truth will NOT be forever on the scaffold. Because all truth is God’s truth, truth will eventually win the day for us. Let’s keep bringing the argument back to the truth. Contra the assertions of Pastor Hong, arsenokoites was NEVER used in antiquity to refer to two men or two women in committed, faithful, same sex partnership.
Rick Brentlinger