circularthoughts

an old fashioned foot-washing...

I preached on foot-washing from John 13:1-20 yesterday. This is the passage where Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. I focused on three main points (don’t all preachers make three main points?) from the 20 verses.

1. Jesus washed Judas’ feet knowing that he would be the betrayer. I told the story of how I had someone betray me once and while I was working through my forgiveness of this person I read what Jesus did with Judas in this passage. It was a major push in helping me reach a point of being willing to forgive this person.
2. Peter’s shenanigans in verses 6-9 was evidence that the disciples still did not understand the nature of the kingdom that Jesus was initiating. They were still thinking of a kingdom from an earthly perspective, i.e., it is only the servants who wash feet. To have Jesus, as their leader and teacher, stoop to wash their feet was outside the paradigm of power they were living under. I love Peter’s response! If that’s the way it is, then wash all of me! What a great picture of repentance (turning or changing of mind) in how Peter responded.
3. I then concluded by talking about how there seems to be two main paths that the church has taken in response to Jesus’ suggestion of how we ought to follow his example (verses 14-15). One group, the larger of the two, has symbolized this act and emphasized Jesus’ modeling of servant leadership. By following Jesus’ example in this way we are following the oughtness of his suggestion. The other group has taken Jesus literal and incorporated washing feet into their regular form of worship. I suggested that somehow there was an synthesis between these two extremes. Yes, Jesus was modeling servant leadership. But, the act of washing someone’s feet is an incredible picture of the reversal of structure and hierarchy of the kingdom of God. It is something that we all need to experience.

What do you think? Have you ever taken part in a foot-washing service? If not, why not?

call me an atheist...

My current course at Fuller is called The Art of Evangelism. This week, for the course, I am reading Evangelism in the Early Church, by Michael Green. I have about 80 pages left to read.

One of the many things I’ve picked up from this read is how the early Christians were considered to be atheists by the Gentiles. The Gentiles (read for the most part as citizens of the Roman Empire) were confused by the refusal of the early Christians to pay homage to the gods of the empire. In other words, since the early Christians rejected the gods of the empire by saying there was only one true God, they must be atheists.

Clearly this was a confrontation between polytheism and monotheism. The empire and its citizens were polytheistic, having a god for everything that must be honored and respected if things were going to continue to go smoothly. By not paying homage to the gods of the empire the early Christians were thought to be seeking to undermine the empire and thus were seen as dangerous to the state.

It was also a conflict between a human made empire and the kingdom of God. 

I’m wondering if we still have this kind of conflict today?

I’m wondering if the gods of the empire could have morphed into what today we would call nationalism?

That may be a bit of a stretch, but, just in case, call me an atheist...

 

a short trip to Mexico...

We returned yesterday from a week in Mexico. Yes, we went to Mexico, to Monterrey, supposedly one of the most dangerous places in the world because of the drug cartel killings. Well, we didn’t see or even sense any danger. It was nice.

We went so I could teach for Oasis HGM, a partner ministry of Heart of God Ministries, for which I am Mission Director. Oasis HGM trains Latin believers how to be good missionaries. I taught Wednesday afternoon and Thursday on disciple making focused church planting. On Friday I met with each of the current 8 students to hear their stories, to dream with them and see if there was a way I can help them to thrive after they go to the field. I know that I will be visiting some of these students on the mission field in the next year or so.

On Saturday the students graduated. The training program lasts ten months. I was able to share briefly with the students at the graduation ceremony. 

I told them that the book of Acts is probably my favorite book. I talked about how Luke wrote it to his friend Theophilus as a follow up to Luke. I talked about how Acts seems to end fairly abruptly in chapter 28 with Paul in Rome sharing the gospel of the kingdom daily. I said that it was almost as if Luke intended to write more but didn’t have the time.

I then suggested that the book of Acts is still being written. Not literally of course, but through the stories we write as we go out to love others through making disciples of Jesus. I suggested that as they went out they would be writing chapters 4,658 of Acts, or 5,386 and so forth. It was a lot of fun!

Please pray with me as these students finish up their support raising so they can go to the fields of Turkey, China, Mali, Bangladesh and Mozambique to write their chapter of Acts.

Alleviating poverty, one loan at a time...

Have you heard about Kiva? This non-profit organization is one of my favorite ways to give. 

Kiva’s mission is “to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty.”

Kiva lets you join in micro lending to some of the world’s poorest people. The minimum loan that you make is $25.00. Your loan gets combined with those of other folks and the combined amount is used to fund a micro loan for an individual or a group of individuals in numerous places around the world. It is a great setup, easy to do and the results have been phenomenal. 

From the Kiva website, since Kiva was founded in 2005:

596,151 people have made loans through Kiva

$224 million in loans have been funded

98.79% repayment rate on these loans

As a former banker, I can say that the repayment rate is amazing!

May family has made 78 loans over the years. We chose to loan only to women. This is one of the ways we have chosen to flesh out our love for our neighbor.

Check it out here. This is my official invitation to you to join Kiva.

If you want to know more about micro lending and the work to alleviate poverty I would suggest the following books:

UnPoverty: Rich Lessons from the Working Poor

When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty Without Hurting the Poor. . .and Yourself

Sympathetic reading...

I like to read. I read a lot. In fact, I’ve read twenty books in the last sixty days. Assuming an average book is two hundred pages long, that means I’ve read four thousand pages in sixty days. 

I say this not to boast. You see, reading for me is essential to my mental and spiritual growth. In all reality, it probably hampers my physical situation as instead of exercising I read. Anyway, if I’m not reading, I’m not growing.

I mostly read books on theology and missiology. I currently have nine books on my desk, four of which I’ve started and the rest of which I plan to start in the next couple of weeks. In addition, I have at least eight books on my Kindle app on my iPad that I’m either currently reading or plan to start reading in the next couple of weeks. Almost all of these are on theology or missiology.

One of my favorite ways of reading is what some call sympathetic reading. This happens when I read something I don’t agree with, something that challenges my current thinking. I have found that this way of reading is crucial for my spiritual and mental growth.

Sympathetic reading helps me to understand the point of view of the author; what is driving his or her thinking. In seeking to understand a different point of view I often find that weaknesses in my own understanding are revealed. I also often find where my own way of thinking, and those who think it with me, may have contributed to the reaction of the author I’m reading. 

Sympathetic reading is not reading for the sake of tearing apart an author’s argument. Instead, it is for seeking to understand in the hopes that you might learn something, either about the subject of the read or yourself.

Try it sometime. It can be very enlightening...

Evangelism as initiation...

Yesterday, I began reading the second book for my Art of Evangelism course at Fuller. The book is called The Logic of Evangelism and was written by William J. Abraham. 

The main thesis of the book is that evangelism should be understood as the primary initiation into the kingdom of God, as opposed to simple proclamation of the good news or as a means for church growth. To throw a spark on this idea, Abraham suggests:

any vision of evangelism that ignores the kingdom of God, or relegates it to a position of secondary importance, or fails to wrestle thoroughly with its content is destined at the outset to fail. This is so because the kingdom of God is absolutely central to the ministry of Jesus and to the mission of the disciples that launched the Christian movement into history. (17)

I have always been taught that evangelism is the way we go about letting others know of their need for salvation. We tell them the good news that Jesus has died for their sins and that he rose again, from the dead, conquering death so that we might have eternal life. If we have been well trained we say that eternal life begins here and now, but, most of us focus on the afterlife part of eternal life. In other words, evangelism, I have always been taught, is the process of telling others how to get to heaven.

In recent years, my problem with the above is that it really offers nothing for the here and now. This, I think, is what Abraham is talking about when he suggests that evangelism is the primary initiation into the kingdom of God.

If the kingdom of God is seen as the reign and rule of God, in and through Jesus, both now and in the future, then, evangelism should be seen as the process of leading others into such reign. It is the process of helping others see that there is a different way to live in the here and now. This way of living has less to do with our performance or compliance with a list of rules. Instead, it is centered in our pursuit of God’s will, here on earth, of heaven in the here and now.

So, yes, evangelism is about the cross and what Jesus accomplished on such. But, it is about so much more.

I think I’m going to enjoy this course!

Bonhoeffer on Christian formation...

In his book Ethics, Bonhoeffer discusses the concept of Jesus being the true human being, the ultimate and only true example of what a human being is. Therefore, for right Christian formation to happen we must begin with a proper understanding of Jesus.

Bonhoeffer refers to Jesus as Ecce homo – the man. This is taken, of course, from Pilate’s words in the gospels as he presents the beaten and ready to be crucified Jesus to the crowds. What Pilate surely meant as sarcasm is meant as reality for Bonhoeffer. In the crucified and resurrected Jesus, Bonhoeffer sees the true human, made new and presented as the one through whom humanity is measured and revealed.

Christian formation, for Bonhoeffer, is the process of being conformed to Christ. This is possible because of the humanity of Jesus, because he is the true and ultimate human and in his life and death and resurrection we have the ability to experience such. Christian formation, in this case, is not so much a path or even a set of beliefs and behaviors to be mastered. Instead, it is the process of Jesus taking form in us, which is really a matter of faith. The work has been done in the life of Jesus. We must now walk forward in faith in the reality of such.

 

Conversion: Fast Food or Fine Dining?

My current course at Fuller is called The Art of Evangelism. The first book we are reading is called Conversion in the New Testament: Paul and the Twelve, by Richard V. Peace, who just so happens to be the course Professor. In this book, Peace compares the dramatic, single-point-in-time conversion of Paul to the slow, progressive and even fuzzy (when it comes to when it happened) conversion of the Twelve. In doing such he is asking the question of which one is the norm. 

In Western Evangelicalism, the norm seems to have always been that of Paul. I was taught that I needed to be able to identify the specific point in time that I prayed to receive (trust) Christ. Failure to be able to do this was seen as a potential weakness in my own testimony that might cause doubts as to my actual salvation at some point in the future. Thus, our western evangelism is designed to fit this paradigm, in that we push for a decision.

Peace suggests that the conversion experience of the Twelve was more like a pilgrimage. It was a progressive revelation in which they first saw Jesus as a Teacher, followed by a Prophet, on to Messiah and then to God incarnate. In other words, he argues that the Twelve would have been hard pressed to pick out the specific point in time when the actually trusted Christ, but, their conversion was just as valid as that of Paul’s.

I’m intrigued with this idea of progressive revelation and progressive trust. I think that this “both/and” understanding of conversion might open the door to a more gentle, less confrontational/polemical form of evangelism, which would be a good thing, especially for those on the receiving end.

Bonhoeffer on cheap grace...

For Bonhoeffer, “cheap grace means grace as doctrine, as principle, as system” (Discipleship, 43). Cheap grace is that which requires no true repentance or change. It is grace without transformation. It is grace without discipleship. Costly grace, on the other hand, is that which causes us to be transformed, discipled and to follow Jesus. It is a grace that costs us our lives. It is a grace that was also costly for God because of his incarnation and his death.

Discipleship is commitment to Jesus Christ. It is not the study of any system or doctrine or way of belief. It is, instead, the following of the God-human and the life he lived and will live in us. It is more than an increasing of head knowledge; it is instead an increasing in heart knowledge, an obedience that comes from belief and a praxis that reflects the life of Jesus Christ.

The root and foundation of discipleship is found in the Sermon on the Mount. At the center of the Sermon is, of course, Jesus. However, love is the summation of the entire Sermon. Disciples are those who are allowing Jesus to mold in them his way of undivided love, the love that was reflected in the cross and the love that is reflected in the sending of rain on both the righteous and unrighteous.

Quotation taken from this book...

Bonhoeffer on judging...

For Bonhoeffer, “judging is the forbidden evaluation of other persons. It corrodes simple love” (Discipleship, 171). When we judge others we are doing so by establishing a standard in Jesus. On the surface this appears to be acceptable, at least having the standard of Jesus. However, Jesus is not a standard, he is the judge. He has judged me and that gives me no right to judge others. We hold others to a standard that we have not been able to measure up to. This is judging and forbidden and the opposite of love. Instead, we must learn to “reverse the I and the You” (Discipleship, 174) in our relationships with others. We must be able to see them as we see ourselves and give others the same grace that we give ourselves. We must see that there is no difference between the evil in us and the evil in others. It is only when we do this that we are in right relationship with others. I believe that Bonhoeffer would remind the church in the US to stop judging those who are not a part of the church. He would tell us to stop holding others to a standard that we will never meet. He would tell us to learn to love others and to accept them where they are. After all, this is what Jesus has done with us.

Quotations taken from this book...

Bonhoeffer on community...

I recently completed a course for my seminary work at Fuller called The Ethics of Bonhoeffer. I first read Bonhoeffer’s Cost of Discipleship roughly 10 years ago. It has been a formative book for me. This course introduced me to much of his other works as well.

One of those was a little book called Life Together: Exploration of Faith in Community. This 122 page read is a deep discussion of what true Christian community looks like. Bonhoeffer wrote it while leading an underground seminary during the late 1930’s. The seminary had to be underground because of Nazi efforts to control the German church.

The key to this book is found in Bonhoeffer’s argument that any community founded on anything but Jesus is nothing more than a “wish dream.”

Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. (27).

I’ve seen this so many times. Churches, ministries and so forth are built around dreams and ideas that are close to Jesus, but, not Jesus. These dreams and ideas can take the form of a particular style of worship, they can be an intense focus on discipleship or even a certain way of preaching. Somehow, in the process, Jesus often gets left out, or minimized, or marginalized. 

I’ve been wondering lately if our pursuit of right doctrine can be one of Bonhoeffer’s “wish dreams” and thus a hinderance to community...

 

Nomads 2011

 

Go here to register!

If you can't say something nice...

Yesterday I introduced the concept of ethnocentrism by asking the question, “Is it wrong, or just different?”  Today I want to dig a little deeper.  By the way, much of this information is being adapted from the book, Anthropology for Christian Witness, by Dr. Charles Kraft.

Another word for ethnocentrism is monoculturalism.  One of the major ways we know if we suffer from monoculturalism is through our language.  If we use pejorative terms to contrast the ways of others with our ways, then we are probably guilty of monoculturalism.  Let’s look at some examples.

Advanced and primitive.  When we compare our culture to another we often say that ours is advanced and theirs is primitive.  What does it mean to be advanced and who gets to decide this? 

Civilized and uncivilized.  Who gets to decide what it means to be civilized?  We, in the West, have the capacity to kill millions of people through our nuclear arsenal and smart bombs and such.  Is that civilized?

Developed and underdeveloped.  What does it mean to be underdeveloped?  Who gets to decide this?  Aren’t we just judging other cultures in the areas we excel while ignoring the areas where we are weak?

Religious and superstitious.  Every culture has religious and superstitious elements.  To call one culture superstitious while ignoring the superstitious elements in our own is monoculturalism.

As you can see, a simple examination of the language we use when talking of other cultures can test our level of monoculturalism.  If we want to be the cross-cultural ministers that God has called us to be we must learn to look at others through a lens that does not make these kinds of differentiations.  We must learn to look at others as God does.

Forms and Meanings

Cross-cultural ministry can be a daunting task.  This is especially true if we are unable to differentiate between forms and meanings.  When we assume that our forms, i.e., preaching, baptism, dress code, worship style, meeting time, use of buildings and other church rituals or ceremonies, are sacred in and of themselves we are flirting with idolatry. 

What we must remember is that it is not the form that is important, rather, it is the attached meaning that results from such form.  We, as guests in another culture, have neither the right nor the ability to attach meaning to forms.  Therefore, we must approach the use of forms with great caution because it is highly probable that the receptor culture will attach a meaning to our form that is different from what we intend. 

An example would be monologue preaching.  In the West, great value is placed on monologue preaching.  It is the central point of most church worship gatherings.  Because of this, we have often made the mistake of assuming that monologue preaching is sacred rather than simply being a cultural form of communication.  In reality, monologue preaching is nothing more than a lecture. 

Most cultures are significantly more communal in nature than that of the West.  In such cultures, communication typically happens in the form of communal dialogue rather than monologue.  Lectures are rare and foreign.  When we insist or carry the unquestioned assumption that monologue preaching is sacred, we run the risk of having the receptor culture attach a meaning that we don’t really intend.  Instead, we need to learn how the receiving culture communicates and adapt and adopt their methods.  This will better assure that the proper meaning is attached, and that is what is really important.  This is just one example of many, which is what makes cross-cultural ministry so much fun.

some thoughts on conversion...

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the term “conversion” and all that goes with it.  I’m wondering if what we mean when we use the word is what is heard by others.  I’m also wondering if we are even sure of what we mean when we talk of conversion.

My thoughts reminded me of a scene in The Princess Bride:

[Vizzini has just cut the rope The Dread Pirate Roberts is climbing up]

Vizzini - “HE DIDN'T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE.”

Inigo Montoya - “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

The simple idea behind conversion is that of the process that one goes through when he or she changes his or her beliefs, views or faith.  It is a process of making a fundamental shift. 

The problem that I see, however, is twofold.  First, how is the idea of conversion received by those we desire to see follow Jesus.  Second, what is the object of the conversion.

In my experience, most people who are not following Jesus don’t hear what we want them to hear when we use the word conversion.  They hear something more along the lines of “conformism,” which is the idea that one must conform to the ways of a system or certain rules of behavior.  They hear that they must fall in line with an often foreign way of doing things.  They hear that they must leave their culture for a new one. 

I once visited a very remote island in the southern regions of Bangladesh, which is nearly 90% Muslim.  As we walked toward the center of the island and found the local market we were soon surrounded by a mob of curious onlookers.  One of the older men spoke a little English and he immediately asked me if we had come to force them to convert to Christianity.  My response was to quote him a verse from the Qur’an:  “There is no compulsion in religion.  Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path.”  (2:256)  I then told him that we were there to share with them what we had learned about the Right Path as well as learn from them what they had learned.  This set them all at ease and we had a couple of days of great ministry before we had to leave to head back home.

Virtually no one wants to change their culture.  I don’t, and, honestly, didn’t when I became a follower of Jesus.  Why is it, then, that others think that what we are looking for when it comes to conversion is a change in culture?

I think it may be because that is exactly what we really mean, whether we have thought about it or not.  Is it possible that the object of the conversion that we desire for others to go through has become Christianity instead of Jesus?  Is there really a difference between a conversion to Christianity and a conversion to Jesus?  I think so and I think that this is the problem behind the word conversion.

Conversion to Christianity is a change in culture.  Christianity, as it has developed over the past two thousand years, is both a religion and a culture.  I don’t think you can truly separate the two.  Too often, when we present Jesus, we present Christianity.  Most of us can’t even differentiate between the two.  However, again, my experience as a missionary has shown that there is a difference.  For example, the western concept of church, which falls under the umbrella of Christianity, is often seen as the “right” way of doing church.  We meet at a set time on a set day for a set period.  We have organized meetings where we know what is going to happen and who is going to do it.  I’m not saying that this understanding of church is necessarily wrong.  However, it is cultural, not biblical.  It is one way of doing church.  There are many cultures around the world where this form of church would never work or be embraced and to expect it to be so is to expect a conversion to our way of doing things, which is simply another way of expecting others to convert to our culture.

Jesus never told us to convert people to a new religion.  He never told us to have people change their culture.  What he did tell us is to make disciples of all nations by going to them, immersing them in the reality of the Trinity and teaching them to obey all that he had commanded.  In other words, Jesus is to be the object of the conversion we seek, not Christianity. 

Instead of the word conversion I have been trying out the concept of a change of allegiance.  The process of making disciples is more like the process of helping someone change their allegiance to Jesus by turning away (repenting) from their allegiance to themselves, their religion, money, power and so on.  I like this so far because it seems to carry far less baggage. 

What do you think?  Does the word conversion have too much baggage?  Are conversion to Christianity and conversion to Jesus always the same thing?  How do you feel about the concept of changing allegiance instead of conversion?  Is it just a play on words or is it a better way of expressing the desired result?

Leadership by example...

Have you seen Invictus?  This Clint Eastwood directed movie staring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon is well crafted and tells a beautiful story.  There are also several leadership lessons that just seem to jump off the screen, one of which I'd like to share today.

The IMDb website summarizes the movie as follows:

 The film tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's rugby team as they make their historic run to the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship match.  (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1057500/plotsummary)

There is a scene where Mandela (Freeman) first meets Francois Pienaar (Damon), the player captain of the South African rugby team.  Toward the end of their meeting the conversation goes like this:

Mandela:  How do you inspire your team to do their best?

Pienaar:  By example. I've always thought to lead by example, sir. 

Mandela:  Well, that is right. That is exactly right. But how to get them to be better than they think they "can" be? That is very difficult, I find.

That's all Mandela said.  From that point on, something happened.  The team went on to play like they never had and, well, if I tell you what happened you'll have an excuse not to watch the movie...

What's the leadership lesson?  It comes down to the example we set.  If we, as leaders, don't believe a goal can be reached, it won't.  If we, as leaders, don't believe that things are going to be better, they won't.  If we, as leaders, don't set the example, getting people to move forward or do the impossible will never happen.  It all starts with us.  We must set the example, and when we do, those who are following will catch the vision.

Homebrewed Bishop...

I have been slowly reading through N.T. Wright's latest book, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters for several weeks now.  I received a free copy with the condition that I write a blog post within a month of receiving the book.  Well, I was doing just great and then came down with my first case of malaria.  This set me back a bit and I'm still trying to catch up.

Today, I received an email that provided a way to take me off of the hook on posting a review of the book.  I decided to jump on the offer.

There is a new interview of Bishop Wright on Homebrewed Christianity that was posted a few days ago.  Take a listen and see what you think.  You can find the post here.

By the way, the book has been one of my favorites that Bishop Wright has written.  I would suggest you pick it up.

the karma police...

I’ve been taking a course on Hinduism this term.  What a fascinating study.  Hinduism is virtually impossible to define because there are so many different branches and streams and lines of thinking.  I’ve been saying, since starting the course, that Hinduism is post modernism on steroids.  In other words, literally anything goes.

One of the main streams of Hinduism is the concept of karma.  I’ve talked about karma before.  Karma is that belief system centered in the concepts of “reaping what you sow” and “what goes around comes around.”  The more I think about karma the more I am convinced that most of the world is under the control of this way of thinking.

I saw this even today as I read my Bible.  I was reading in Genesis, chapters 42 and 43, the story of Joseph’s brothers traveling to Egypt to get food for the family.  If you haven’t read the Joseph story (Genesis 37-50) in a while you should go read through it as it is full of some amazing stuff.

So, where did I see karma in this story?  Look at Genesis 42:21...

Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen.  That is why this distress has come upon us.”

The distress they were talking about was that Joseph was requiring them to return home to their father and bring back their youngest brother, Benjamin.  They had no idea that Joseph was their long, lost brother.  In other words, they saw their current predicament as payback for what they had done to Joseph when they threw him down a well and then sold him into slavery.  Karma had found them and payback was coming.

Joseph, who had every reason to take advantage of his political power to exact some karmic revenge on his brothers, chose a different path.  He chose the path of grace.  Before his brothers left to go get Benjamin, Joseph arranged to have the money they had used to purchase food placed back in their traveling sacks.  When the brothers discovered this it only added to their distress.  When they returned with Benjamin they told Joseph about the money and his response was one of grace.  His actions and his response show that he had broken free of the karmic stronghold.  We see Joseph’s response in Genesis 43:23...

He replied, “Peace to you, do not be afraid.  Your God and the God of your father has put treasure in your sacks for you.  I received your money.”

Do you see it?  Joseph’s brothers were living a life of fear, one in which karma (can God be thought of as a form of karma?) punishes when we do bad things and rewards when we do good things.  Joseph was living a life of freedom from this kind of fear.  He was walking outside of karma.  He had broken free.  This meant he was able to show grace to his brothers.

What happens when we seek to follow God but do so through a karmic lens?  Do we not end up with a God who punishes us when we do bad things and blesses us only when we do good things?  Do we not end up with a performance based religion that is driven by fear?  I’m not saying that there aren’t consequences in life.  Clearly there are.  However, consequences and punishment are not always the same thing.

Jesus broke the karmic cycle.  His path is one that walks outside of karma.  That’s the path I want to be on.  What about you?

Loving Muslims...

I saw the following on a friend's blog.  Thought you might enjoy it...

Christian approaches to Muslims

If we see Muslims as …
Enemies
Our approach will be …
Attack!/Defend!
Our heart attitude will be ..
Hate

If we see Muslims as …
Foreigners
Our approach will be …
Separate Coexistence
Our heart attitude will be ..
Indifference

If we see Muslims as …
Poor, uncivilized, uncultured
Our approach will be …
Invite them to be like us (join us)
Our heart attitude will be ..
Pharisaic/condescending

If we see Muslims as …
Rivals
Our approach will be …
Polemic debate
Our heart attitude will be ..
Proud

If we see Muslims as …
Human beings
Our approach will be …
Respectful dialogue
Our heart attitude will be ..
Listen and learn

If we see Muslims as …
Unresponsive
Our approach will be …
Resigned to do nothing
Our heart attitude will be ..
Hopeless

If we see Muslims as …
Lost people Jesus died for
Our approach will be …
Salt/light (demonstrate love)
Preach the Gospel (speak truth)
Pray for their needs (show power)
Become all things to all people (Pauline)
Our heart attitude will be ..
Love

To confront or not...

I received the following email from a circularthoughts.com reader yesterday:

My friends and my girlfriend, even my father, all whom I hold very dear to me, take the Lord's name in vain all the time, and it really bothers me.  I don't do it. But I wonder if I'm sinning too by not correcting them. This is such a hard issue for me.  It plagues me. Please help.

This was my reply:

Thanks for your question.  I can understand your concern.  I once had a boss who did the same.  It was like he couldn't say one sentence without doing it.

I have a question for you?  Are your friends, your girlfriend and your father believers in Jesus?  I think whether they are or not determines whether or not you need to confront.

My understanding of Scripture, when it comes to confrontation of sin, is that we are not to confront the non-believer.  To do so, in my experience, does nothing but push them further from the real Jesus.  However, we are encouraged to confront believers in matters of sin.  Of course, we are encouraged to do so in humility and love.

When we look at Jesus, we see this very pattern played out.  He never confronted those who were considered to be sinners.  He spent time with them, had meals with them, even drank with them.  The Pharisees, who were supposedly the "good" people, on the other hand, is who he confronted.  He confronted them on many occasions for not loving those who were considered sinners and for making it hard on them.  I think this is the pattern I would suggest you take with your friends, girlfriend and father.  In other words, if they are not followers of Jesus, then I think you need to not say anything about their language.  Instead, let your light shine and love them to Jesus.  If they are believers, then I think you can have a discussion with them and tell them why this bothers you.  Don't be judgmental in approaching them, just share why it bothers you.  In addition, you need to pray that the Holy Spirit will lead you to the right time and the right words to say.  Make sense?

I hope and trust this helps, at least just a little.  I'm more than willing to talk about this further if you would like.  Thanks again for asking and thanks for reading the blog.

Blessings,

Eric

The reader replied as follows:

When you say let your light shine and love them to Jesus, you mean lead by example and pray for them, rather than confronting them thus pushing them away right?  I want to say thank you so much for your expedient and thoughtful reply.  It really means a lot.  I look forward to future correspondences in matters of faith.  May Christ keep you and walk with you on a righteous path.  

---

Confrontation is a tough call, I think. It does seem to be the default for many Christians, meaning, let's confront first and love second.  I'm just sharing from my own experience, on both sides.  I have both confronted and been confronted when I shouldn't.  So, here are my questions for you?

Where do we draw the line?  Do we confront those who don't claim to be following Jesus?  When do we confront our brothers and sisters?  What horror stories do you have?

Thoughts on the parable of the lost sons - Context...

con-text

- noun

1.  the parts of a written or spoken statement that precede or follow a specific word or passage, usually influencing its meaning or effect: You have misinterpreted my remark because you took it out of context.

2.  the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, etc

---

When we want to go deeper in our understanding of Scripture one of the most important steps is to study the context.  Failure to do so can result in at best a limited understanding of what is being taught and at worst a complete misunderstanding.  It is important to try and understand what has been said both before and after the passage we are studying.  It is also important to know as much as we can about both the historical and literary context of the passage in question.  In this post, I hope to answer some of the questions of context when it comes to the parable of the lost sons.

When I read this parable the first thing I want to know is to whom Jesus is telling the parable.  This seems to be a fairly important question as there could be two or three different emphases to the parable depending on how this is answered.  In Luke 15:1 & 2 there are two groups of people mentioned; the tax collectors and sinners, and the Pharisees and the scribes.  If we come to the conclusion that Jesus is speaking to the tax collectors and sinners then we will most likely focus on the younger son and assume that Jesus is teaching the tax collectors and sinners about the grace and mercy of God the Father.  When we do this we will typically not know what to do with the elder son and just think his part of the story is either an afterthought or secondary.  On the other hand, if we come to the conclusion that Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and the scribes we will more likely focus on the elder son.  We will do this because we will see that Jesus is telling the Pharisees and the scribes that they are like the elder son in that they cannot extend grace and mercy to the younger son who represents the tax collectors and sinners.  A third option would be that Jesus is speaking to both the tax collectors and the sinners and the Pharisees and the scribes.  If we come to this conclusion we would assume that Jesus has a message for both groups in the stories of the younger and elder sons.  So, which is it?

I think the key can be found in one word in Luke 15:2; the word grumbled.  The Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling about the fact that Jesus was defiling himself by hanging out and eating with the tax collectors and sinners.  In Luke 15:3 we see that Jesus told "them" a parable, well actually three parables.  Jesus had heard the grumblings of the Pharisees and the scribes and he answered them with the parables. We can also see evidence that Jesus was addressing the Pharisees and the scribes in Luke 16:14, which says that the Pharisees "heard all these things, and they ridiculed him."  In other words, the parable of the two lost sons, along with several other parables surrounding such, is sandwiched between the Pharisees grumbling and their ridiculing Jesus.  This should provide more than enough evidence to convince us that Jesus was speaking directly to the Pharisees and the scribes when he told the parable of the lost sons. 

Why is this important?  I think it adds weight to the argument that these parables were more of a warning than stories of what the Father is like.  I'll get into this more in future posts.

Another contextual issue that I think is important is that of the societal structure during the time of Jesus.  We who live in the Western world live very individualistic lives.  We don't really understand the communal nature of most of the rest of the world.  When we read this story through this individualistic lens we are going to miss much of what Jesus was saying.  The family dynamics during that time were such that in the story both sons brought shame to the Father.  This is an important factor that adds to the significance of the warning I spoke of above.  I'll go into details of this factor more in future posts.

The final contextual issue that I think is important to understanding this story is the significance of the two parables that precede the parable of the lost sons; that is the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coin.  There is a strong connection between these three parables.  In all three, something was lost.  In all three, that which was lost is found.  In the first two parables, someone went to find and recover that which was lost.  This did not happen in the third parable and this is a very important factor, one that adds strength to my argument that these parables are more of a warning than they are stories of God's goodness and grace.  But, I'll save that for future posts...

Thoughts on the parable of the lost sons - Introduction...

I've been spending a lot of time thinking about and studying the parable of the lost sons over the past month or so.  This parable, which is usually referred to as the parable of the prodigal son, is found in Luke 15.  It has been called the gospel within the gospel and has been used countless times to paint a picture of grace for those of us who have ever gone astray.  It is a beautiful story.

My study, however, has helped me to see that the typical understanding and presentation of this story, while beautiful, falls short of what Jesus was intending to communicate.  I have now come to see that this story is as much of a warning as it is a story of grace.

I plan to take the next few posts and share some of the things I have learned.  Most of what I will be sharing has come from a book by Kenneth E. Bailey called The Cross & the Prodigal: Luke 15 Through the Eyes of Middle Eastern Peasants.  I've owned this book for some time but have just now read it.  A second book that I will draw from is called The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith, by Timothy Keller.   I also listened to a sermon series by Keller called The Prodigal God.  This sermon series tracks with the book.

My plan is to do five posts, including this introductory post.  The second post will be a discussion of the context of the story.  The third post will look at what we know about and learn from the younger son.  The fourth post will be a discussion of what we know about the father and what that teaches us about God.  The fifth and final post will look at the elder son, who is really the key to understanding what Jesus was saying.

I look forward to writing these posts and to our discussion as well.

2 Timothy 2:2 video

I wanted to share this video of what a 2 Timothy 2:2 network looks like.  This is the discipleship network for just one of the men we have trained in India.  It is one of many that we could show you.  Each name on the chart represents a house church.  This is what multiplication looks like.  Enjoy!

Praying through Ramadan...

I wanted to share with you a website that provides daily prayer requests for the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.  I plan to lead my family through this prayer guide and I hope you will too.

 

Ramadan is a 30-day season when Muslims around the world fast and seek the favor of God.  It is a season during which Muslims are more open to hearing from God.  Will you join with my family and so many others in praying that the truth of the Gospel of Jesus be made known among all Muslim peoples?

 

The website can be found here:  2008 30 Days Muslim Prayer Focus

 

Scroll down about midway through the page to see links to the daily prayer topics.

 

Thanks for joining with us.

 

Until ALL Have Heard,

 

Eric

Another step in going green...

I took another step in going green today.  I signed our little community (our house and the discipleship house we own) up for a Community Supported Agriculture program.  This will give us an opportunity to support local growers as well as eat healthier food.  We joined the Cherokee Farms CSA program.  This is what we get for our $35.00 per week membership:

Each basket will contain a minimum of 15 lbs of fresh vegetables in season, a fresh flower arrangement, a fresh selection of herbs, a jar of canned or preserved food item, fresh home baked cinnamon rolls, cookies or muffins, and a bar of our featured goat milk soap of the week.

We are excited about this new step.  Has anyone else joined one of these?

Going green...

I recently completed a seminary course at Fuller called Christian Ethics.  My final paper for this course was called The Christian's Care of Creation.  In this paper, I addressed some of the issues Christians often face when it comes to our care for creation.  If you would like to read it, click on the title and you will be taken to the paper in pdf format.

My conclusion can be summed up as follows:

I now understand that my pursuit of God's kingdom and his righteousness and justice must include a pursuit of both the redemption of humans and the reconciliation of the rest of creation.

So that was my conclusion, but how am I fleshing this out?  Well, for starters, we are using the mower you see above.  I have also been riding my bicycle, when it isn't so stinking hot.  I'm praying/thinking about buying a scooter.  We are truly trying to purchase less stuff and when we do go to the store, we don't use a bag to put our stuff in unless we have too much stuff or even take a bag with us.

That's about it so far.  What are some other ways to go green?  What do you do? 

Thoughts on Christendom, by Frost and Hirsch...

We must admit that Christendom, particularly its ecclesiological and its missiological manifestations, amounts to something of a failed experiment.  To reiterate, by the term Christendom, we are referring to a period in history when the church assumed influence by its connection to temporal, secular power.  Its high watermark occurred in the Middle Ages and continued beyond the Reformation well into the 1700s.  Since the emergence of the Enlightenment it has been in decline, disappearing in the latter part of the twentieth century.  It is time to move on and find a new mode of understanding and engagement with surrounding contexts.  We can no longer afford our historical sentimentality, even addiction, to the past.  Christendom is not the biblical mode of the church.  It was/is merely one way in which the church has conceived of itself.  In enshrining it as the sole form of the church, we have made it into an idol that has captivated our imaginations and enslaved us to a historical-cultural expression of the church.  We have not answered the challenges of our time precisely because we refuse to let go of the idol.  This must change!  The answer to the problem of mission in the West requires something far more radical than reworking a dated and untenable model.  It will require that we adopt something that looks far mare like the early church in terms of its conception of the church (ecclesiology) and its core task in the world (missiology).

From The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-Century Church, by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, page 15.

More from Dr. King...

American Christians, I must say to you what I wrote to the Roman Christians years ago: "Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind."  You have a duel citizenry.  You live both in time and eternity.  Your highest loyalty is to God, and not to the mores or the folkways, the state or the nation, or any man-made institution.  If any earthly institution or custom conflicts with God's will, it is your Christian duty to oppose it.  You must never allow the transitory, evanescent demands of man-made institutions to take precedence over the eternal demands of the Almighty God.  In a time when men are surrendering the high values of the faith you must cling to them, and despite the pressure of an alien generation preserve them for children yet unborn.  You must be willing to challenge unjust mores, to champion unpopular causes, and to buck the status quo.  You are called to be the salt of the earth.  You are to be the light of the world.  You are to be that vitally active leaven in the lump of the nation.

- from Strength to Love, by Martin Luther King, Jr. (pages 138 & 139)  This sermon was written as an imaginary Pauline epistle to the American church...

A word from Dr. King...

Every true Christian is a citizen of two worlds, the world of time and the world of eternity.  We are, paradoxically, in the world and yet not of the world.  To the Philippian Christians, Paul wrote, "We are a colony of heaven."  They understood what he meant, for their city of Philippi was a Roman colony.  When Rome wished to Romanize a province, she established a small colony of people who lived by Roman law and Roman customs and who, though in another country, held fast to their Roman allegiance.  This powerful, creative minority spread the gospel of Roman culture.  Although the analogy is imperfect - the Roman settlers lived within a framework of injustice and exploitation, that is, colonialism - the Apostle does point to the responsibility of Christians to imbue an unchristian world with the ideals of a higher and more noble order.  Living in the colony of time, we are ultimately responsible to the empire of eternity.  As Christians we must never surrender our supreme loyalty to any time-bound custom or earth-bound idea, for at the heart of our universe is a higher reality - God and his kingdom of love - to which we must be conformed.

- from Strength to Love, by Martin Luther King, Jr. (page 22)

Donkey Heads for Dinner...

I once heard an incredible sermon by my friend John Willis Zumwalt, who is the founder of Heart of God Ministries.  Zumwalt used the 6th and 7th chapters of 2 Kings to present an incredible allegory of the current relationship between the church in America and the unreached peoples of the world.  What follows is my meager attempt to share a little of what Zumwalt shared.

The setting is Samaria, which was the capital of the Kingdom of Israel.  The Arameans had laid siege to Samaria.  This is where the story begins.

Some time later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram mobilized his entire army and marched up and laid siege to Samaria.  There was a great famine in the city; the siege lasted so long that a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter of a cab of seed pods for five shekels.  2 Kings 6:24-25

These two verses describe a very desperate situation.  Have you ever had an urge to eat a donkey’s head?  I have eaten donkey before and I would not suggest it as a regular part of one’s daily diet.  I can’t imagine what donkey head tastes like.  It gets worse.  Do you know what the “quarter of a cab of seed pods” was?  Try dove’s dung.  These folks were hungry.  They were in bad shape.  The siege had lasted so long that donkey’s head and dove’s dung is all that was left to eat.

Do you see the allegory here?  Just as the people of Samaria were suffering from lack of good food due to a siege on their city, the unreached peoples of today are suffering from a lack of good spiritual food because they are under spiritual siege.  The Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and Animists of the world today are being fed spiritual garbage.  It is all they have because they do not have access to good spiritual food, the Truth of Jesus Christ.  There is a spiritual famine.  They are hungry and they are eating all they have access to.

Let me stop here to talk a little about the difference between the unreached peoples of the world and lost people in the United States.  The difference is access.  Access is defined as follows:  the ability or right to approach, enter, exit, communicate with, or make use of.  The key word in this definition is ability. People in the United States have the ability to find out about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, either by seeking it themselves or by others approaching them.  When I drive to the post office every day, which is less than two miles from my house, I pass by no less than six churches.  The unreached peoples of the world do not have this kind of access.  The level of access between the two groups is as different as black and white; as night and day.  Of course, this doesn’t excuse us from sharing with every person we know and encounter on a daily basis.  However, they do have the ability to seek out and find the Truth and the ability to make choices to seek it out or not to do so.  The unreached peoples of the world do not have such a luxury.  The only choice they have is bad spiritual food. 

The story of what happened in Samaria gets worse as you read on in chapter 6.  I will spare you the gruesome details of what happened next, but know that desperate people do desperate things.  The same is true of the unreached peoples today.  They are seeking to fill their spiritual hunger in the only way they know how and through the only spiritual food they have access to.  It is truly a desperate situation.  I can say this because I have seen it.

I have seen hundreds of Hindus going from idol to idol and temple to temple in Durbar Square in Kathmandu, Nepal and all over India.  I have seen Buddhist worshipers kowtowing to various representations of the Buddha in China and Thailand.  I have seen thousands of Muslims making their way to daily prayer in countless mosques in China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Kashmir, Palestine, Turkey, India, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Eritrea, Tunisia, Bangladesh and the Maldives.  I have only seen a small picture of how desperate the situation truly is.  However, I have seen enough to know that the situation is desperate.  But does it have to be?  Let’s read on and see what happened in chapter 7.

Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate.  They said to each other, “Why stay here until we die?  If we say, ‘We’ll go into the city’ – the famine is there, and we will die.  And if we stay here, we will die.  So let’s go over to the camp of the Arameans and surrender.  If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die.”  At dusk they got up and went to the camp of the Arameans.  When they reached the edge of the camp, not a man was there, for the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired the Hittite and Egyptian kings to attack us!”  So they got up and fled in the dusk and abandoned their tents and their horses and donkeys.  They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives.  The men who had leprosy reached the edge of the camp and entered one of the tents.  They ate and drank, and carried away silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them.  They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also.  Then they said to each other, “We’re not doing right.  This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves.  If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us.  Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.”  2 Kings 7:3-9

The four lepers, outsiders, were sitting at the city gate.  At some point they began to realize that there was a choice to be made.  They could stay where they were and die, they could go into the city and die or they could approach the enemy camp and either die or be spared.  They decided to approach the camp.  What they discovered was that the Lord had confused the enemy and the camp was empty.  There was food in the camp.  They had access to food, good food!  Do you see the connection between the four lepers and the church in the United States?  We have access to good spiritual food.  Spiritual food in abundance and free.  And yet, what are the vast majorities of us doing with what we have?  Are we not reacting just as the four lepers did?  Do you remember what they did?

“They ate and drank, and carried away silver, gold and clothes, and went off and hid them.  They returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also.”

Is the American church guilty of this?  Are we hoarding all of the food for ourselves?  How many Bible studies do we do?  How many concerts do we have?  How many inward focused ministries do we have?  How much of what we do is for ourselves?  Not that any of these things are bad or wrong, but do you see what I mean?  Is God pleased with the American church’s use of the resources He has blessed us with?  Are we doing enough with the much we have been given?  If not, is it too late? 

The lepers came to their senses.  They realized what they were doing.  They understood that they were not doing right and that there would be great punishment for withholding what they had access to.  The four lepers made the decision to report back to Samaria with the good news.  The siege was over!  Food was available!  God had done it!  All the four lepers had to do was take the good news to those who didn’t know about it.

Friends, there are over 2 billion people in the world today who have absolutely no access to the Truth of Jesus Christ.  Their situation is desperate!  We have the Good News!  We must take it to them!  We must take it to them now!  Not to do so is just possibly one of the greatest sins we will have to answer for when we meet our Creator.  Let’s take the banquet God has blessed us with to those who are eating donkey’s heads for dinner!

Until ALL Have Heard,

Eric

Support Shukufa Tanriverdiyeva in Azerbaijan at kiva.org...

I just made a loan to an entrepreneur named Shukufa Tanriverdiyeva in Azerbaijan. She still needs another $650.00 to complete her loan request of $700.00 (you can loan as little as $25.00!). Help me get this entrepreneur off the ground by clicking on the link below to make a loan:

Pray for Tibet...

I am sure you have been following the news regarding the rioting in Tibet.  The Joshua Project reports that there are 99 different people groups with an estimated population of 7,058,000 within the Tibetan cluster.  All but 13 of these groups, with a combined population of approximately 622,730, are considered unreached with the gospel.  That is 86 people groups with an estimated population of 6,435,270 that have little to no access to the gospel of King Jesus.      

I have several friends working to share the gospel with Tibetans.  I sent one of my best friends to a Tibetan area just a few weeks ago.  Another good friend is preparing to go in just a few weeks.

As I've said before, there is always more going on in these situations than what we actually see.  Please join with me in praying for Tibet.

• Pray for a peaceful solution to this situation.
• Pray that the Tibetan peoples, who are clearly crying out for liberation, will be able to hear the good news of the Kingdom of God, the only true liberation any of us will ever know.
• Pray that those who have given their lives to go and share the good news with Tibetans will be given supernatural ability to  be relevant witnesses to the truth of King Jesus.
• Pray that the Lord of the harvest will send out workers. 
• Pray this and be willing to go.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God  reigns.” The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion. Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.   Isaiah 52:7-10

Christianity with power?

I was having lunch with one of my mentors earlier this week.  The topic of healing and the supernatural came up.  I asked him why he thought we did not see these types of things in western culture.  We came to the conclusion that is was primarily a worldview issue.

My mentor spent time as a missionary in Venezuela.  He said he saw things there, things that can only be explained as the work of God.  I have seen similar things in India and other places.  When this first started to happen, I was not sure what to think.  I was seeing things that challenged my deep understanding and prior experiences.  I could not deny, however, what I was experiencing and that took me to the Bible.

My denominational heritage was influenced by cessationist dispensationalism, meaning I had been taught that the charismatic gifts of the Spirit, such as healing, tongues and prophecy, had either stopped with the death of the original disciples of Jesus or were only seen in places where the gospel has not been heard.  This is the deep understanding that was being challenged by what I was now experiencing in India and other places.   

As I went to the  Bible I could find no evidence that God had stopped working in these ways.  I saw Paul teaching the early church to have orderly worship and how he expected all of these things to be a part of the body (1 Corinthians 14:39-40).  I saw James teaching that when someone was sick, we should call the elders and pray for healing (James 5:14-15).  These references are just two of many I could share.  I just could not find any evidence that God would cease working in the supernatural.

I received an email from a blog reader last November.  She asked these questions:

If we serve the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob and He is the same God why don't we see more of His awesome power in our lives and those who call themselves by Christian?  Is He a great God or not?  Got an answer?

I never answered her questions.   I did not know what to say.

After my conversation with my mentor earlier this week, I remembered having purchased a book last summer.  I had never read it and had to look for it on my bookshelf.  I found it:  Christianity with Power: Your Worldview and Your Experience of the Supernatural, by Charles H. Kraft.  Kraft is Sun-Hee Kwak Professor of Anthropology and Intercultural Communication at Fuller Theological Seminary.  I am a Fuller student.  I have not had a class with Dr. Kraft, but hope to in the future.

I have decided to blog through this book.  I will read a chapter and post my thoughts and questions.  As I post, perhaps we can all learn and have our worldview stretched.  I want all that is available to me as a follower of Jesus.  If my worldview is keeping me from something, then I want that worldview to be shattered.  What about you?

Pray for Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela...

Have you seen the news on what is going on between the governments of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela?  Go here and here to catch up if you haven't.  There may be tumultuous times ahead for those living in these countries.   We need to be praying.

Do you look at these types of developments through the lens of spiritual warfare?  Could there be something of significance going on in the heavenly realms?  I think there almost always is.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  Ephesians 6:12

There is a strong missionary movement among the church in Latin America.  Many Latinos are answering God's call to go to the hard places; places in the 10/40 Window.  This is a wonderful movement and it is something we need to cover in prayer.   

Joshua Project has some great information on Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela.  Please join me in praying for God's Kingdom to come in this situation...

Pray for Bhutan...

National Geographic has a good article on Bhutan this month.  There is also an incredible photo gallery. 

Bhutan is one of the most isolated nations on the planet; which means it is also one of the most unreached in terms of the gospel.  The folks at Joshua Project have some good information with links to prayer guides for each people group in Bhutan. 

Pray that the Kingdom of God will come in Bhutan; as it is in heaven...

Standing in the gap...

Would you be willing to give up your salvation so that an entire people group could be made right with God?  I am not suggesting that this is theologically possible, but I do think it is a question we all need to ask.

I have been reading in Exodus.  This week I came to the story of the golden calf, in Exodus 32.  You remember the story.  Moses had gone up Mount Sinai to meet with God, but had not come down as quickly as the Hebrews thought he should.  They went to Aaron and requested that he make them gods that they could follow.  Aaron gathered up all of their golden earrings.  He threw all of the earrings into a fire and, poof, out popped a golden calf.  The Hebrews started worshiping the idol and they had a big party.  God told Moses what was going on and then said that he was going to destroy the Hebrews and start over with a great nation from Moses.  Moses stood in the gap for his people:

But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’” And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.  Exodus 32:11-14

I have read this story many times and have always been intrigued by the fact that Moses changed God's mind.  I have not explored the theological implications of this, but it is truly amazing and it does speak to the impact our fervent prayers must have on God. 

I have read the rest of chapter 32 many times over the course of my life.  This week, however, I noticed something I haven't noticed before:

The next day Moses said to the people, "You have sinned a great sin.  And now I will go up to the LORD; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin."  So Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Alas, this people have sinned a great sin.  They have made for themselves gods of gold.  But now, if you will forgive their sin - but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written."  Exodus 32:30-32

Did you get that?  Moses not only stood in the gap for his people, he also offered his own salvation in their place.  I immediately underlined this passage and wrote a note out in the margin:

Would I be willing to do this for Muslims, or Hindus, or Buddhists, or...?

The Holy Spirit then reminded me that Moses was not the only example of this kind of sacrificial prayer.  I remembered that Paul prayed a similar prayer.  It took me a day or two to find it, but Paul prayed this about his own people:

I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.  Romans 9:1-3

I know what most of you are thinking, because I thought it too.  I mean, this is Moses and Paul and, well, these guys were spiritual superheroes and we can't be expected to live up to their standards, can we?  Oh, the slippery slope of dualistic thinking...

Father, help me to walk in this way.  Help me to love my neighbor as I love myself.  Here am I, send me.  Do your work among all Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and ALL who have yet to hear of your great love.  Do your work in me until my heart breaks with great sorrow and unceasing anguish for the unreached.  Father, forgive them, but if not, please blot me out of the book you have written...

Go here for a good place to begin praying for the unreached...

Thoughts on forgiveness...

There is a great post on forgiveness today over at Darryl's Blog.  What do you think?  When someone has wronged us, are we responsible to pursue their repentance?  Can forgiveness be complete without repentance?  Does reconciliation begin with forgiveness and end with repentance?  Good questions that we all need to wrestle with.  Anyone want to wrestle?

More thoughts on boxes...

I posted this on Tuesday.  I actually wrote it in 2004.  I had one of those Spirit nudges Monday night and posted it in obedience. 

When I wrote it I felt like I was living a life that was out of the box.  People would tell me all of the time that I was so out of the box.  I liked that, then.  Now, I don't really care.

My thinking about this whole box thing has changed a lot.  I do think we have boxes.  Maybe they could be called world views.  I also think it is important that we keep trying to expand our box.  Maybe this expansion could be called paradigmatic shifts.  But, it is neither the world view nor the paradigmatic shift that is important.  What is important is who is leading us.

Many of us hold on to our box.  We treasure it as if it were the Pearl of great price.  We will defend it to the death.  Many of us get a kick out of destroying our box and the boxes of others.  Our goal is to prove that we are outside of the traditional box.  This is nothing more than reactionary arrogance and it is not healthy. 

My desire is to simply follow Jesus.  As I follow him, my box is going to be stretched.  My understanding of so many things will need to be destroyed and replaced with the truth.  My world view will slowly be replaced with a Kingdom view.  The difference is, Jesus is the one doing the stretching and the destroying.  The Holy Spirit is teaching me and guiding me to the truth.  This is good.  This is right.  When I seek to do things myself, either defending my box or destroying my box, I am walking the wrong path.  I must follow Jesus and listen to the teaching of the Holy Spirit.  Then, and only then, my box is being stretched in the right way.

I recently saw this cartoon from the folks over at The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus.  When the focus is the box, this is true.  When the focus is Jesus, well...

Playing with boxes...

Box: a rigid, typically rectangular receptacle, often with a cover.

What is it about a box that attracts us? As a kid I can remember playing with boxes of all sizes and shapes. I remember opening presents on Christmas or my birthday and being just as excited, if not more, about the box as I was about the toy. I vaguely remember my mom and dad being somewhat upset at the fact that I was more interested in the cardboard box than I was in the gift they had saved for and purchased in love. Now that I am a parent, I have experienced the feelings my folks must have had. What utter frustration to see more pleasure coming from the box than from the toy.

What makes these things made of cardboard so attractive to us? I think it partly has to do with definition, meaning how they are shaped. Boxes are typically well defined. We know how big or small they are. We understand the limits of boxes and know that a shoe box cannot be used to make a fort, unless we are playing with toy soldiers. We know exactly what we can use a box for and we know that stretching the limits of a box will do nothing but destroy it.  So, we are comfortable with boxes and their inherent limitations. A box is something that we can control and manipulate to be what we want it to be.

In Jesus, God has given us the gift of abundant life. He has given us a priceless treasure. He has given us the opportunity to be on mission. We have received a gift the depth of which can never fully be understood in this life.  Yet, many of us seem to be more interested in the box.  Many of us are more interested in playing with that which we can define and control.

It is a matter of faith versus sight. The gift of abundant life requires faith.  The life Jesus offers is one of adventure. It is one of excitement. It is one in which Jesus receives glory and honor. It is also one that requires faith. It is a life that asks us to build a boat for a flood when it has never rained. It is a life that asks us to sacrifice our son, through whom a great nation has been promised. It is a life that asks us to hold our staff over the Red Sea when the Egyptian army is bearing down on us. It is a life that asks us to step out of the boat and walk on water. It is a life that asks us to go and find a coin in the mouth of a fish. It is a life that asks us to die so that we might live. It is a life of faith.

Sight, on the other hand, is the box. This is how most of us accept the gift of God. We focus on what we can define. We focus on what we can see and understand. We focus on that which does not stretch our perceived limitations. We do this and then wonder what is meant by abundant life. We wonder why life just does not seem to be as exciting as what we read about in the Bible. How frustrating this must be to Father.

What is it that Father has recently asked you to do that stretches your sight? Step out in faith and trust God.  He really is trustworthy.  I can promise you that the gift is much better than the box...

Stop the Traffik petition...

I signed an online petition this morning.  I rarely do this, but this request was in my Facebook Inbox this morning:

Candy was 15. Her parents were persuaded, tricked, to let her be taken from her West African home to a new life in England. She was sold – ‘Trafficked.’ When she arrived, she was taken to a brothel and abused every hour, every day. Stories like Candy’s are happening all the time, making People Trafficking the world’s fastest growing illegal trade. We have to act now to stop it.

The idea is simply this: we collect one million signatures of people who want to see more done to stop people trafficking, then in February we present that declaration to the United Nations and use it as an opportunity to get donors to give millions of dollars to set up a global fund to fight people trafficking.

One million signatures, millions of lives changed

People trafficking is wrong. I support STOP THE TRAFFIK in its call to:

Prevent The Sale of People,
Prosecute The Traffickers,
Protect The Victims.

Please join with me in signing this petition by clicking on the banner:

Kiva...

I just made my fourth loan to someone in the developing world using a revolutionary new website called Kiva.

You can go to Kiva's website and lend to someone in the developing world who needs a loan for their business - like raising goats, selling vegetables at market or making bricks. Each loan has a picture of the entrepreneur, a description of their business and how they plan to use the loan so you know exactly how your money is being spent - and you get updates letting you know how the business is going. When the entrepreneur pays back their loan you get your money back - and Kiva's loans are managed by microfinance institutions on the ground who have a lot of experience doing this, so you can trust that your money is being handled responsibly.  My plan is to leave the money that is paid back with Kiva and loan it out again.

I just made a loan to an entrepreneur named Hameedan Allah Rakha in Pakistan. They still need another $225.00 to complete their loan request of $1,125.00 (you can loan as little as $25.00!). Help me get this business off the ground by clicking here to make a loan to Hameedan Allah Rakha.

It's finally easy to actually do something about poverty - using Kiva I know exactly who my money is loaned to and what they're using it for. And most of all, I know that I'm helping them build a sustainable business that will provide income to feed, clothe, house and educate their family long after my loan is paid back.

I hope you will join me in changing the world - one loan at a time.

Thanks!

Eric

---------------------------------------------------------

What others are saying about Kiva:

'Revolutionising how donors and lenders in the US are connecting with small entrepreneurs in developing countries.'
-- BBC

'If you've got 25 bucks, a PC and a PayPal account, you've now got the wherewithal to be an international financier.'
-- CNN Money

'Smaller investors can make loans of as little as $25 to specific individual entrepreneurs through a service launched last fall by Kiva.org.'
-- The Wall Street Journal

'An inexpensive feel-good investment opportunity...All loaned funds go directly to the applicants, and most loans are repaid in full.'
-- Entrepreneur Magazine

What are we going to do today?

This cartoon, from the crazy folks at The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus, reminded me of something that happened several years ago.  I was in a position of needing a fairly large sum of money for a ministry project.  My former life, as a banker, meant that I had several friends and acquaintances who had access to large sums of money.  I made an appointment with one and went to visit him in his office.

We caught up on things and I shared my need.  He then looked at me and said something like this:

I like what you are saying, but before I can give I need to know your five-year ministry plan and how this project works to fulfill your plan.

I was shocked.  I didn't have a five-year ministry plan.  I had never even thought about having a five-year ministry plan.  I didn't know what to say.

I took a deep breath and offered up a quick prayer.  I opened my mouth and out spewed something like this:

My five-year ministry plan is this, to do my best to wake up every day and ask God what he wants me to do that day.  I figure if I am able to do this on a fairly consistent basis I will be exactly where God wants me to be in five years.

My friend smiled and said that he both understood and didn't understand, all at the same time.  He then pulled out his checkbook and wrote a check for a sizable donation.

This is still my five-year ministry plan.  Some days I am more successful than others.  I have learned that God is always waiting for me to ask, and as depicted in the cartoon, God is continually asking me to join him in what he is already doing...

The person who trusts me will not only do what I'm doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I've been doing.  You can count on it.  From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I'll do it.  That's how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son.  I mean it.  Whatever you request in this way, I'll do.  John 14:12-14 (The Message)

Our brothers and sisters in Palestine...

My friend, Bob Roberts, posted a timely plea for us to remember our brothers and sisters in Palestine.  His post is titled Evangelical American Pastors - Meet Evangelical Palestinian Pastors!  Please go and read it.

My favorite quote from Bob's post...

We’re still trying to drive foreign policy through speculative theology. I don’t know how Jesus will return, I do know he’s called all of us to share the good news of who he is and to serve others. I don’t know when he will return, I do know what he’s called all of us to do until he comes. We have traded the Great Commission for the sake of an eschatological foreign policy - Jesus told Peter to put down his sword - he put the ear back on the soldier - he is about an eternal kingdom. He will come at the behest of the father, not the contrivings of religious power brokers trying to play global politics.

Amen!

I have traveled extensively in the Muslim world.  I have initiated and facilitated kingdom work in more than 20 Muslim cultures.  The most consistent hurdle to receptivity of the gospel that I have experienced is without question the American church's uncritical support of the modern nation state of Israel.  God does not have favorites.  (Acts 10:34-35)  Should we?

Lost in translation...

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33

Have you ever noticed how Jesus seemed to exhort us to chase after two things?  We are to pursue both the kingdom of God and the righteousness of God.  Are these two separate things, a restatement of the same or a prescription of how one comes about?

My understanding of the kingdom of God starts with Jesus' teaching on prayer:

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Matthew 6:10

The kingdom of God is God's will being done, both in heaven and on earth.  To chase after the kingdom of God requires us to chase after God's will being done here on earth.   In other words, the kingdom of God looks like heaven on earth. N. T. Wright suggests that this prayer is a longing "for the kingdom of God to become fully present: not for God's people to be snatched away from earth to heaven, but for the glory and beauty of heaven to be turned into earthly reality as well" (Matthew for Everyone: Part One, page 59).

How do we do this?  How do we chase after God's will being done here on earth?  We pursue righteousness.  But what does that look like?

Righteousness is defined by W. E. Vine as "the character or quality of being right or just" (Vine's Concise Dictionary of the Bible, page 320).  Dictionary.com defines righteousness similarly, with the emphasis being on morality and right behavior.  My understanding of righteousness had always been comparable.  To chase after the kingdom of God had always meant to pursue my own morality and to teach others to do the same.  Unfortunately, this path often led me to judge those whose level of morality was not up to what I thought it should be. 

My study of the kingdom of God in recent years has challenged this understanding of righteousness.  If our understanding of the kingdom of God is limited to a future heaven, then our understanding of righteousness will most likely be limited to a pursuit of individual behavior that results in our being qualified for entrance into that future heaven.  If our understanding of the kingdom of God also includes the here and now, then our understanding of righteousness must be deeper than a pursuit of personal morality.  I say this because our pursuit of personal morality typically results in a judgmental spirit, which is certainly not God's will.

My journey took me to the original language.  I learned that the Greek word dikaiosynē can be translated into English as either righteousness or justice.  In other words, when the Bible translators come to dikaiosynē they have to make a choice because there is not a word in English that fully covers the meaning of dikaiosynē.

The justice of dikaiosynē carries a meaning of restoration and liberation.  This justice is the act of making things right; according to God's will.  It is the holistic return to what God intended in creation. 

We find the justice of dikaiosynē in feeding the hungry, in giving to the poor and in rescuing the oppressed.    We find this justice in loving the orphan and the widow.  We find this justice when we fight against human trafficking.  We find this justice when we peacefully stand in the way of violence and war.

This relatively new understanding has transformed my thinking about the here and now.  When I read or hear news stories about injustice I now listen through a kingdom of God perspective.  I now ask myself how the kingdom of God needs to come in this circumstance and how can I chase after it.  Sometimes I am simply led to pray for the will of God to be done; for God's justice to be known by those who are suffering.  Sometimes I am led to get involved through more than my prayers; by going, giving or taking action to seek justice.

My reading of scripture has also changed.  This understanding of the interconnectedness of righteousness and justice has caused me to replace the word righteousness with righteousness/justice. For example:

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness/justice, and all these things will be added to you.  Matthew 6:33

and

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness/justice, for they shall be satisfied.  Matthew 5:6

and

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness/justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 5:10

My prayer is that you will join me in chasing after the kingdom of God by chasing after the righteousness/justice of God; always in a spirit of mercy and grace. 

Dreams and visions...

I am writing the final paper for my Biblical Foundations of Mission class.  It is due next Friday, December 7.  My thesis statement is as follows:

The thesis of this paper is that God uses both dreams and visions to expand his kingdom; therefore, the people of God should both expect and ask for dreams and visions as we participate in the missio Dei.

I will be looking at four stories as I defend my thesis.  These are the story of Jacob from Genesis 28:10-17, the story of Nebuchadnezzar from Daniel 2-4, the story of Peter and Cornelius from Acts 10-11, and the story of Paul and the Macedonian call from Acts 16:6-10.  When you read these stories, what do you see?

Eric
 

Should Christians Use Allah in Bible Translation?

I am often asked something similar to the title of this post.  After all, Allah is a false god, right?

First, go read this article.

Now, click on the following and read the linked article.

What do you think?

Until ALL Have Heard,

jeg