Stephen Tong
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Stephen Tong (唐崇荣牧師) is a Christian evangelist born in Fujian, China in 1940. He is an Indonesian national and resides in the city of Jakarta. He has preached to more than twenty million people during his 49-year ministry all over the world [citation needed]. He began serving as a minister of the Gospel at the age of 17 (1957). His speciality in evangelism is to lead people back to Christ through Reformed Theology Bible principles.
As an evangelist who embarks in Reformed theology, he bases his theological teachings in Calvinism, suggesting that it is probably the most accurate and consistent doctrine on the Holy Bible. His ministry has served many educated Christians searching for sound biblical principles and doctrines. He is known to strongly oppose the Charismatic Movement in the modern church, saying that it has defied the authority of the Holy Bible and replaced it with personal spiritual experience. He is also a sharp critic of New Age Movement, Postmodernism, Contemporary art, Psychology, Western culture, Eastern culture, Philosophy and Prosperity theology.
As an evangelist, he has outstanding knowledge in Arts, Music, Philosophy, History, and Architecture. He is also a hymn composer, a conductor, an artist, and an architect. He composed more than 60 Hymns which have been published and used in church services [citation needed]. A number of his lectures have been published in books, and/or recorded in multimedia means.
In addition to preaching in churches and citywide evangelistic crusades, Rev. Tong has spoken to Bible study groups and Christian fellowships in numerous campuses across North America, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, China Graduate School of Theology - Hong Kong, China Evangelical Seminary - Taiwan, Trinity Theological College - Singapore, Westminster Theological Seminary, Reggent College, Columbia University, University of California at Berkeley, Stanford University, University of Maryland, and Cornell University. He preaches in Mandarin, Fukienese, Indonesian, and English.
[edit] Ministry
- 1974, He started seminars in Surabaya.
- 1979, the Stephen Tong Evangelistic Ministries International Inc. was established with offices in Singapore and San Diego to coordinate city-wide evangelistic rallies and theological seminars. Tong has been travelling weekly to Asian cities, such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Taipei to deliver expository sermons.
- 1984, he started conducting seminars to uphold Reformed doctrines and evangelical fervor called Seminar Pembinaan Iman Kristen (SPIK).
- 1985, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in leadership in Christian evangelism from the La Madrid International Academy of Leadership in Manila, in the Philippines. He taught theology and philosophy in the Southeast Asia Bible College in Malang (1964-1988) and currently teaches in the Reformed Evangelical Seminary in Jakarta, which he founded.
- 1986, he founded the Indonesian Reformed Evangelical Foundation together with Yakub Susabda and Caleb Tong which organizes a full-time theological seminary, the Theological Institute for laymen, the Jakarta Oratorio Society, the city-wide evangelistic rallies, mass theological seminars, the youth and teenagers counseling facilities as well as the literature department and the theological translation center.
- 1989, he founded the Indonesian Reformed Evangelical Church.
- 1996, he founded the Reformed Institute for Christianity and 21st Century in Washington D.C., to equip Christians for the global evangelization in the 21st Century, by training them in Reformed theology, Apologetics, Evangelism, and critical study of Eastern and Western cultures. The Institute has held its three-week sessions every summer since its inception.
- 1999, founded the Christian Drama Society.
