tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151443782024-03-07T01:59:14.439-05:00A Far Green Country"End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it . . . White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise." - J.R.R. TolkienDRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comBlogger1001125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-87326344743661217982014-06-17T15:00:00.000-04:002014-06-17T15:02:11.432-04:00Forgotten Mission Fields: Taiwan<span class="l-5-prayerchallengestextheadline">What percentage would you guess are believers from Taiwan's population? 25%? 20%? 10%? Try 5%. And if you're talking about Evangelicals, only 2% of Taiwan identifies with that label.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="l-5-prayerchallengestextheadline"><a href="http://www.operationworld.org/chnt" target="_blank">Operation World</a> cites:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="color: #666666;"><span class="l-5-prayerchallengestextheadline">"A decline in numbers of missionaries</span> <span class="generated-style">working
in Taiwan has become evident in the last 20 years – more marked than
any other country in Asia. This is not due to a finished task, but
rather to attrition and the attraction and fruitfulness of other
locations. The door is wide open for missionaries to enter and serve in
many capacities; it is especially ideal for those looking to do
full-time mission work rather than tentmaking. Cults such as the Mormons
seize this openness by sending huge numbers of missionaries; how can
biblical Christians allow it to be ignored? Pray that this window of
opportunity might be fully exploited by evangelical missions."</span></span></blockquote>
<br />
<span class="generated-style"> Would you pray for the 23 million lost of Taiwan? 90% of Taiwanese see themselves somewhere in the spectrum of Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Taiwanese folk religion. Even mainland Chinese visitors have been known to comment on the spiritual darkness in Taiwan. Please pray:<br /><br />- against materialism</span><br />
<span class="generated-style">- for more pastors and full-time workers</span><br />
<span class="generated-style">- for more missionaries (to reverse the current, shrinking trend)</span><br />
<span class="generated-style">- for the rural areas made up of indigenous peoples that are very unreached</span><br />
<span class="generated-style"><br /></span>
<span class="generated-style">As I read about Taiwan, it reminds me of my beloved Japan. Politically open, spiritually closed, in need of indigenous pastors and leaders, blinded by cultural religion and materialism. God, send your Light to Taiwan!</span>DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-6095823326338905822014-01-16T09:18:00.002-05:002014-01-16T09:19:34.179-05:00Indonesia Missiographic<table width="440"><tr><td><img src="http://www.gmi.org/infographics/missiographic-Indonesia.png" width="440"></td></tr>
<tr><td><p><a href="http://www.gmi.org/indonesia-infographic.htm"><font size=4>Indonesia: Think BIG!</font></a><br />
eople groups. Then ask God how He wants you to respond to this BIG place.</p></td></tr>
</table>DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-75826678424914401212013-07-30T13:25:00.002-04:002013-07-30T13:25:27.408-04:00Should I Stay or Should I Go?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">A brother in Christ, veteran missionary, astute theologian, missions leader, and professor once gave me these guidelines as I wrestled with going to the mission field, or staying, and then getting another degree here to be more prepared there, etc...I think all those with a call to missions and desire to be as equipped as possible could find this very helpful as you think about if, how, when, and where to go.<br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Here are some general principles that I have
found both sound and useful:</span><br /><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><br /><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span>1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">If
God has given you a heart for unreached peoples, your default should be
to take the gospel to them unless He clearly tells you otherwise.
Others will line up to take pastoral positions here in the US. Too few are
lining up to take the gospel to the unreached.<br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span>2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Your
educational efforts should be in support of your ministry. Only pursue a
further degree if it equips you better to fulfill your calling.<br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span>3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">The
earlier you move overseas, the easier it will be on your children.
However, if your kids are already teenagers, you probably want to wait
until they leave home before moving cross-culturally. Teenage kids
generally have too much else going on in their lives to handle a
cross-cultural move very well.<br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span>4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">You
should not pursue academic studies for the first couple of years you
are overseas. You need to concentrate on learning the language and
loving your family through the transition.</span><br />
<br /><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></blockquote>
DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-10518021491428568642013-07-26T16:41:00.001-04:002013-07-26T16:41:57.272-04:00"Go, Preach my Gospel, Saith the Lord"In Francis Wayland's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Pulling-Eyetooth-Live-Tiger-Adoniram/dp/0974236578/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374870612&sr=8-1&keywords=francis+wayland+pulling+tiger+judson" target="_blank">two volume biography</a> of the life and labors of Adoniram Judson, he writes how a young Judson's, about 7 years of age, favorite hymn was then "Go, Preach my Gospel, Saith the Lord," by Isaac Watts. Considering Judson was not converted until he was a young man, you cannot help but delight in God's providence, that this favorite hymn of Judson's was to be a divine foreshadowing of his life and call to come. Here are the lyrics to a missionary hymn, indeed:<br />
<br />
<div id="corpus">
<div class="section">
<div class="text">
<div class="long">
<q>Go preach My Gospel,</q> saith the Lord,<br />
Bid the whole earth My grace receive;<br />
He shall be saved that trusts My Word,<br />
He shall be damned that won’t believe.<br />
<br />
I’ll make your great commission known,<br />
And ye shall prove My Gospel true,<br />
By all the works that I have done,<br />
By all the wonders ye shall do.<br />
<br />
Go heal the sick, go raise the dead,<br />
Go cast out devils in My name;<br />
Nor let My prophets be afraid,<br />
Though Greeks reproach, and Jews blaspheme.<br />
<br />
Teach all the nations My commands,</div>
<div class="long">
"I’m with you till the world shall end;<br />All power is trusted to My hands,</div>
<div class="long">
<q>I can destroy, and I defend.</q>
<br />
He spake, and light shone round His head;<br />
On a bright cloud to Heav’n He rode;<br />
They to the farthest nations spread<br />
The grace of their ascended God.<br />
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br />DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-78368377131690366032013-06-13T12:48:00.005-04:002013-06-13T15:56:16.900-04:00Five Questions for a Missionary<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><br />
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267"> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/> <w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0in;
mso-para-margin-right:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0in;
line-height:115%;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style> <![endif]--> <br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="color: black;">I was able to spend the summer with *Brent and his family in the summer of 2006. They have been working with Muslims in Southeast Asia for over a quarter of a century. *Brent was gracious enough to spend some time answering some questions for me. I hope his family's faithfulness and perseverance and insight challenges, inspires, and encourages you.</span></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><br />
<span style="color: black;">1) </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How many years have you been in Southeast Asia? In all that time, what has been the greatest ongoing struggle during your time there? <br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">We have been in SEA since April 1986.</span> <span style="color: red;">We spent two years in the Philippines doing evangelism, Church planting and pastoring in Manila. Once we received our visa we moved to our current country of service in January 1988 and have been here ever since. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: red;">The Greatest ongoing struggle has been ministering in a Cross Cultural setting. This a struggle that one not only deals with when you first arrive on the field but even when you have been here for over 25 years . You constantly are struggling with making sure you communicate clearly and effectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even after a quarter of a century here, it still is challenging to communicate to folks here effectively. <br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2) What has been the greatest ongoing blessing over the years in SE Asia?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">The ongoing blessing has clearly been seeing Muslims come to faith in Jesus. Nothing puts "the wind in my sails," so to speak as seeing folks coming from a Muslim background and coming to know the TRUTH that is in our Lord Jesus . The hope and peace that he gives is quite a contrast to the rigid rules and regulations the other religion gives with NO hope for eternal life. That has and will continue to be the greatest blessing in serving here for 25 years. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3) You raised three children in this part of the world. All reached adulthood and are well adjusted and seem to have a love and appreciation for both the US and SE Asia. What advice would you give to missionary parents who long to see their kids well adjusted, loving the Lord into adulthood, and even returning to the mission field like yours have? <span style="color: red;"><br />
<br />
First of all we have no magic formula for seeing kids turn out so well. Goodness, we have really made our share of mistakes down through the years as parents. But God is gracious, we have managed to communicate to our kids the importance of Loving the Lord with all of our heart, and loving each other as a husband and wife. <br />
<br />
Letting your kids see that you really love your spouse is essential for building a good family life. Dads are extremely important in this area. Spending time with our kids as a family when they were growing up was important. We all loved basketball and played it together as a family. We even loved to watch UK (wildcats) basketball together, especially my son and me. This also helped us form a link between getting our kids to build relationships with national kids as well. In our first term all three of our kids were a part of a basketball league and learned how to communicate with their friends in the heart language of the people by playing with them them almost every day. When we moved to our second assignment in another town, we lived at the Baptist hospital which had a basketball court on the grounds where we lived. My son and youngest daughter had national friends over everyday and this gave them more opportunities to improve their language skills in a SAFE environment. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4) What advice would you give to those seeking to understand if God has called them to the mission field or not? <span style="color: red;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: red;">It was helpful for me to relate my call experience to some biblical character that was also called by God. My call was very similar to Isaiah’s call in Chap 6 , where after seeing God’s Holiness in a new and fresh way, he became aware of his own sinfulness and of his countrymen . It was then after seeing the needs (spiritual) around him that he felt compelled to go and preach the Good News to the Lost people of Israel. My wife came to her call much different than I did. Hers was more like Jonahs ! But bottom line a call is something that you struggle with and seek God’s voice about. It always is helpful in knowing that God primarily speaks to us through the Holy Spirit in one of the following fours ways, 1) Prayer 2) The Word 3) His Church 4) Everyday circumstances in our life.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: black;">A different but somewhat related question is, what advice would you give to new missionaries</span> - maybe in their first months or years, who may find themselves struggling?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: red;">It is not a question about whether struggles and problems will come, it is when they come how do you respond to them once they do. I just say that we have to go back to our call. After we lost our son in a tragic automobile wreck, some questioned whether we should or even would return to the mission field. One thing that helped us would be to remember that my son too felt called here and we concluded that if he were still alive he would remind us “Mom and Dad you were called by God to clearly go to this place, these people. I wasn’t able to, but you can. Follow your original calling”. That has helped us! Lots of tears and pain, but bottom line God has called us to reach the Muslims of Southeast Asia! </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5) What are three ways that readers and I can pray for either you, your family, or the people you are laboring to reach?<br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;">1) You can pray that God would bring a Spiritual Awakening among the people group we are serving among. Included in this request is that our Team of missionaries and also our National Locals Team would experience Revival and that God’s power and love would be more clearly seen by Muslims here in the part of Southeast Asia where we serve.<br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;">2) Pray for our two daughters who along with their families have moved to back to this Muslim land to serve as Missionaries. Pray for our oldest daughter and her husband as they serve as teachers at the International School and as Dorm Parents. Pray for our youngest daughter, son-in-law, and our granddaughter, as they are studying language and will be moving to serve as Evangelists and Church planters in one of the other islands.<br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;">3) Pray for our core team of national Evangelists <span style="color: black;">*</span>Abraham, <span style="color: black;">*</span>Hosea, <span style="color: black;">*</span>Daniel and <span style="color: black;">*</span>Josiah and their families, that God would continue to give them boldness to share the Good News here in their country, our adopted home, and be able to gather new believers into small groups and disciple them to become multiplying believers. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;">*Names changed for security purposes</span> </span></div>
DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-89990731115371367842013-06-12T12:47:00.000-04:002013-06-12T12:47:03.365-04:00Pray for Terengganu, Malaysia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyFTvjtqQ3Lu2HGVwHdyo4XGyezi_7xRrIdGLti4omsV8efIjXgUKsGskWyvVxd1kDxIGUYPvnkL9qvWOMBEZ2Ik4iLeWlPvemQ3dgtSXW_1f81ck_50FVHvNDCaXTbuXOuvypHQ/s1600/terenreligion.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyFTvjtqQ3Lu2HGVwHdyo4XGyezi_7xRrIdGLti4omsV8efIjXgUKsGskWyvVxd1kDxIGUYPvnkL9qvWOMBEZ2Ik4iLeWlPvemQ3dgtSXW_1f81ck_50FVHvNDCaXTbuXOuvypHQ/s1600/terenreligion.jpeg" /></a></div>
<br />Terengganu - 0.2% Christian.<br />
<br />
According to the ever-trustworthy Wikipedia, Terengganu practiced a Hindu-Buddhist culture combined with animist traditional beliefs for hundreds of years before the arrival of Islam.<br />
<br />
Terengganu was the first Malay state to receive Islam. Now, if you are Malay, legally, you are a Muslim.<br />
<br />
Terengganu did not receive many Indian or Chinese immigrants, unlike many areas of Malaysia, so Malay cultural influences are strong and deep throughout this state.<br /><br />Would you begin praying for the Malays of Terengganu, bound by birth and law to be Muslims? The all powerful God can can shatter hurdles and grant new hearts. Pray for laborers for this harvest. I believe there may be only one couple here in this state aiming to reach Muslim Malays.<br />
<br />DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-40720011531975278462013-05-15T09:00:00.000-04:002013-05-15T09:00:04.432-04:00Are We All Missionaries? Redefining the Mission for All BelieversThe following is an excerpt posted with permission from the author, Dr. Greg Wilton. Please pray for him and his family and they are commissioned today to serve as missionaries in Southeast Asia. I heartily agree with the whole quote from Dr. Wilton, and appreciate the grace he pushes back with when making the case for reclaiming the term "missionary."<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="p6">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span class="s2">Those with the perspective that every Christian is a
missionary are trying to help all Christians see that God’s mission is
for all of God’s people. When you see the point behind the point, it not
only makes sense, but it is also very helpful for Christian living and
practice.</span></span>
</div>
<div class="p6">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span class="s2">On the other hand, some disagree with the notion that
all Christians are missionaries. For instance, Stephen J. Strauss and
Craig Ott believe McLaren’s statement and subsequent belief distorts the
specific calling on some Christians to devote their lives to full-time,
cross-cultural witness:</span></span>
</div>
<blockquote style="border: medium none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;">
<div class="p10">
<span style="color: #444444;">
If we nevertheless choose to call every Christian a missionary, then we
will need to create a new term for the Christian who is specially
called, gifted, and commissioned for cross-cultural mission. Otherwise,
this unique, essential, and divinely appointed role is at risk of being
lost altogether. (2010, 225)
</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="p10">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span class="s2"></span></span>
</div>
<span style="color: #444444;">
Strauss and Ott believe that all Christians are called to live on
mission for God, but some are called to mission in a specific way. They
believe the word “missionary” was created to help define a particular
group of Christian men and women who were called to fill a particular
kind of mission. They suggest new terms to replace what the word should
mean, but I believe the word must not be replaced, but rather reclaimed.</span></blockquote>
<br />
- Dr. Greg Wilton @gregwiltonDRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-78498253730308658672013-04-12T19:30:00.002-04:002013-04-12T19:38:32.458-04:00You Don't Know What You Don't KnowThis week I've been beset by some slow, rolling cold or sinus or allergy thing that no over-the-counter medicine seems able to cure. I was able to function and operate and plow through most days, but everyday by 3pm, I was exhausted.<br />
<br />
As Wednesday night rolled around, I was responsible for teaching on prayer and biblical repentance out of Psalm 51. That morning I arranged things where half the class I was "up front," but the second half of class was a time to break up into small groups and look over Psalm 51 together to reflect on that beautiful, hope-filled passage. It gave us some time to be in the Word more intimately as men and women (groups broke up by gender) as well as kept me from passing out from teaching for over an hour.<br />
<br />
As we probed, studied, read, reflected on, and discussed the weight and glory of Psalm 51, my missions mind kicked into overdrive.<br />
<br />
For almost four years I never had the opportunity to do what was so accessible to me at that moment. While I was a missionary in Japan, I never got together with another believer who spoke my mother tongue to study and reflect on a passage from the Bible. Our time together on Wednesday night was so rich, and even being just over a year removed from Japan, I was almost acclimated enough to US church life again that I took it for granted.<br />
<br />
But that nagging missions bug I have, the one that there is no cure for, the one that has been given to me by God, out-dueled my flesh and won the day.<br />
<br />
We don't even know what we don't know. We have no idea how blessed we are that we can go to our church library, or to a computer, and within seconds or a couple of days, have our choice of hundreds of resources to better equip us for whatever we are struggling with. Want to know how to be a better parent? Want to know what the Bible says about raising teens? Want to learn more about the Trinity? Want to figure out how to be a more godly steward of your money? Want to preach better? Want to know how you can fight depression in truth with the power of prayer, the Word, and the Spirit?<br />
<br />
All you have to do is spend a few seconds and you can download or purchase resources - books, CD's, mp3's, sermons, journals, go to friends, pastors, trained professionals, experienced believers, and there's a wealth of equipping and insight and resources to help you fight for faith.<br />
<br />
Even during my time in Japan, a modern country with high speed internet, getting my hands on a helpful resource in English was extremely costly and usually involved me putting out some family members to get them here. After I received a Kindle as a gift, it did become much easier to get possession of some tools that could help me grow.<br />
<br />
But even in a place like that, even with a technological tool like a Kindle, it cannot replace for you what community with the body centered around the Word can do for you. This Wednesday night I was challenged, convicted, encouraged, amazed, saw anew God's glorious character in a refreshing way, and felt the love and camaraderie that only the saints of God share during that 45 or so minutes with my brothers in Christ.<br />
<br />
Next time you are having a good day - think of those believers who are minorities in their cultures, think of those missionaries who have voluntarily forsaken those relationships and resources, and pray for them. Next time you're having a bad day, remember those same believers and missionaries, and think what it must be like for them to have a "bad day" and not be able to be surrounded by resources and the body of Christ and corporate worship the way you are.<br />
<br />
When you're healthy, think of the advanced medicine and patient care and facilities and technology we have to care for us. And think how scary it would be, even if all those things were in place, to not understand what your doctors were saying to you because you were learning the language. Or you knew a lot of the language but not the medical terms. Think what it would be like if you had both poor medical care, run down facilities, and you did not know the language or understand what was wrong. Pray for missionaries and believers in areas where sickness is a serious life issue, not just a hindrance to their plans for the week.<br />
<br />
Next time you're looking for help with something, and you download a resource at the touch of a button, go to your mailbox and hungrily pour over it, benefit from a mature brother or sister's advice to you, or find the answer sitting under the sermon of your faithful pastor, pray for believers across the nations and missionaries among them who are parched for the very gift you just enjoyed.<br />
<br />
We're so ignorant that we don't even know what we don't know. Next time it's Wednesday night or Sunday morning or evening, or your small group meets, don't act like that's an optional add-on to your life. Understand what a precious gift it is that you are so surrounded by the Word and God's people to the degree that you have actually come to the point of taking it for granted! What a loving God that He would so saturate your life with spiritual riches that you would think of diamonds as dirt.<br />
<br />
If we're not going, the least we could do is give and truly pray for the nations and those serving among them. And if we're staying, the least we could do is live in gratitude at the spiritual treasure of people and resources He has given us to help us grow into maturity.<br />
<br />
If you've read this far, now you know what you didn't know before. One way you could do something about it - send a missionary a Kindle or an iPad along with gift certificates from Amazon throughout the year to make sure that they at least have some access to self feed themselves while they're away from church and home. I'm serious. Do it! Because now you know!DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-61728916610415939832013-02-01T14:29:00.000-05:002013-02-01T14:29:24.284-05:00The Divorce Between Head and Heart<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/56951464?color=ffffff" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="400"></iframe><br />DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-23783570407905508982013-01-25T21:54:00.001-05:002013-01-25T21:54:55.411-05:00Once by the Pacificby <span style="font-size: x-small;">Robert Frost </span><br />
<br />
The shattered water made a misty din.<br />Great waves looked over others coming in,<br />And thought of doing something to the shore<br />That water never did to land before.<br />The clouds were low and hairy in the skies,<br />Like locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes.<br />You could not tell, and yet it looked as if<br />The shore was lucky in being backed by cliff,<br />The cliff in being backed by continent;<br />It looked as if a night of dark intent<br />Was coming, and not only a night, an age.<br />Someone had better be prepared for rage.<br />There would be more than ocean-water broken<br />Before God's last Put out the Light was spoken.<br />
<br />
-----------------------------------------------------<br />
<br />
I know I'm a broken record always yapping about Japan, but you can't tell me that this poem doesn't seem like it was written about the Great Tohoku earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster of 3/11/11. Uncanny. It almost feels like Frost was prophesying about this event (I'm well aware he wasn't). Chilling. God save Japan! DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-35443928032418780622012-12-23T09:56:00.004-05:002012-12-23T10:00:02.999-05:00Are the Metro-Evangelicals Right?Andy Crouch (or his headline writer) coined the catchy term
“metro-evangelicals” to describe the growing urban resurgence within
American evangelicalism. In a Wall Street Journal <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444138104578032973183690626.html" title="Make Way for the Metro-Evangelicals">opinion piece</a>,
Crouch explains that pastors like Tim Keller and Mark Driscoll see
cities as the beachhead of a new evangelization. Crouch’s magazine, <i>Christianity Today</i>, has launched an extensive series on this work of God (<a href="http://www.christianitytoday.com/thisisourcity/" target="_blank">This is Our City</a>).<br />
<br /><br />
My first two reactions are profound rejoicing at the sending of
workers into the harvest and profound prayer that these efforts may bear
much fruit. To all who are called there (like my two siblings in
Manhattan) the great opportunity and great difficulty should always
occasion our concern and support.<br />
<br />
<div class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px;">
<a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lower_Manhattan_from_Staten_Island_Ferry_Corrected_Jan_2006.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="A panorama of Lower Manhattan as viewed from t..." class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" height="75" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Lower_Manhattan_from_Staten_Island_Ferry_Corrected_Jan_2006.jpg/300px-Lower_Manhattan_from_Staten_Island_Ferry_Corrected_Jan_2006.jpg" title="A panorama of Lower Manhattan as viewed from t..." width="300" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
<br /></div>
</div>
Yet there is a <i>timbre</i> amidst all of this city-centrism that troubles me.<br /><br />
Maybe this is because the metro-evangelicals are not
counter-cultural, but rather a baptized version of New Urbanism. In a
culture that idolizes living in a loft in a gentrifying art district, a
church planter is not exactly bearing a cross in deciding to “rough it”
under such conditions.<br />
<br /><br />
Maybe it is that some of its advocates tell a story that previous
generations fearfully abdicated the dirty, sinful cities. Thus, all this
new “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for” generation needs do is
show up and things will get better. It’s worth noting that this mythical
Evangelical abandonment never really happened and we should be more
careful at imputing impure motives to previous generations of believers.<br /><br />
Or maybe the metro-evangelicals’ claims of self-importance are so
hyperbolic that they insult the gospel work being done in less densely
populated zipcodes. For example, some urbanist church planters claim
that cultural transformation emanates exclusively from cities, as Mark
Driscoll writes:<span id="more-123702"></span><br />
<blockquote>
[C]ities are of greater strategic importance because they
are upstream where culture is made and changed, yet most Christians
today are downstream and subsequently are incapable of effecting
cultural transformation. (<i>Vintage Church</i>, p. 298)</blockquote>
Incapable. <i>Incapable</i>? I do not think that word means what you think it means. /Inigo_Montoya_voice<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I did my time in the Big Apple, but now reside in a thriving
metropolis of 8,305. Yet I live alongside a whole lot of faithful
Christians who sacrificially love their neighbors, share the gospel,
build civil society and raise their families in the fear and admonition
of the Lord. It may take some time, but I would wager that these folks
will have some kind of transformative impact on the culture when all is
said and done.<br />
<br />
Remember the story of Abraham and Lot. When they parted ways over
business squabbles, Lot chose to pitch his tent near the affluent big
city while Abraham sojourned in wilderness isolation. Yet which of them
ended up displaying a greater capacity for cultural transformation?<br />
<br />
Metro-Evangelicals have developed a kind of “theology of the city”
that roots city-centric strategy in biblical proof-texts. Keller’s
message, as quoted by Couch, is typical:<br />
<blockquote>
“You go to the city to reach the culture,” Mr. Keller
tells his congregation. This, he explains, is as old as religion itself,
and points to what New Testament scholar Wayne Meeks called “the first
urban Christians”—the first-century churches founded in provincial
cities all over the Roman world, and very quickly in Rome itself.</blockquote>
Generalizing from Paul’s missionary strategies as recorded in the
Book of Acts—hopping from one major city to the next throughout the
Roman empire; planting churches all along the way—Metro-Evangelicals
argue that our evangelistic strategy must also prioritize cities. Keller
<a href="http://theresurgence.com/files/pdf/tim_keller_2002_a_biblical_theology_of_the_city.pdf" target="_blank" title="A Biblical Theology of the City (pdf)">has explained</a>
that we should do so because “urbanites are much more open to radically
new ideas—like the gospel!” Once ideas catch in the urban center, say
the metro-evangelicals, they inevitably filter our to the surrounding
region.<br />
<br />
Of course, God blessed Paul’s urban strategy to build the church, but
I’m not sure metro-evangelicals are gathering the right lesson from
this history. It is true that Paul avoided the countryside for the most
part, but not because he expected to find more open-minded folks in the
cities. ‘Cause that isn’t what he found. In Ephesus, for example, some
of these purportedly-open-to-new-things types tried to kill him.<br />
<br />
One alternative explanation for why Paul chose cities is the locus of
diaspora Jews gathered in synagogue worship there. Luke records that
Paul always started his ministries in the synagogues where the Gospel
message made the most sense. After all, the Jews and pious Gentiles
gathered there were already familiar with the one true God and
understood Biblical categories like sin and Messiah. Only after
reasoning with the Jews, would Paul proceed to preach out in the
marketplace as well.<br />
<br />
So, if we are to draw missiological lessons from Paul, we could just
as well say today’s Christians should first preach the gospel in the
heart of the religious subculture before they move out into the
mainstream. By analogy, the way we could follow Paul’s model would be to
first go into the culturally Evangelical south and the culturally
Catholic Hispanic communities before proceeding on to the comparatively
unprepared big cities.<br />
<br />
All of this may seem to be a pretty counter-intuitive marketing
strategy, but we serve a God who has chosen the foolish things of the
world to shame the wise.<br />
<br />
- by <a href="http://www.mereorthodoxy.com/are-the-metro-evangelicals-right/" target="_blank">Kieth Miller at MereOrthodoxy.com </a>DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-52840397938956168072012-12-20T14:06:00.001-05:002012-12-20T14:09:33.714-05:00O Holy Night - Literal English Translation from the Original French<dl><dd><i>Midnight, Christians, it is the solemn hour,</i></dd><dd><i>When God as man descended unto us</i></dd><dd><i>To erase the stain of original sin</i></dd><dd><i>And to end the wrath of His Father.</i></dd><dd><i>The entire world thrills with hope</i></dd><dd><i>On this night that gives it a Savior.</i></dd></dl>
<dl><dd>
<dl><dd><i>People kneel down, wait for your deliverance.</i></dd><dd><i>Christmas, Christmas, here is the Redeemer,</i></dd><dd><i>Christmas, Christmas, here is the Redeemer!</i></dd></dl>
</dd></dl>
<dl><dd><i>May the ardent light of our Faith</i></dd><dd><i>Guide us all to the cradle of the infant,</i></dd><dd><i>As in ancient times a brilliant star</i></dd><dd><i>Guided the Oriental kings there.</i></dd><dd><i>The King of Kings was born in a humble manger;</i></dd><dd><i>O mighty ones of today, proud of your greatness,</i></dd></dl>
<dl><dd>
<dl><dd><i>It is to your pride that God preaches.</i></dd><dd><i>Bow your heads before the Redeemer!</i></dd><dd><i>Bow your heads before the Redeemer!</i></dd></dl>
</dd></dl>
<dl><dd><i>The Redeemer has broken every bond:</i></dd><dd><i>The Earth is free, and Heaven is open.</i></dd><dd><i>He sees a brother where there was only a slave,</i></dd><dd><i>Love unites those that iron had chained.</i></dd><dd><i>Who will tell Him of our gratitude,</i></dd><dd><i>For all of us He is born, He suffers and dies.</i></dd></dl>
<dl><dd><i>People stand up! Sing of your deliverance,</i></dd><dd><i>Christmas, Christmas, sing of the Redeemer,</i></dd><dd><i>Christmas, Christmas, sing of the Redeemer!</i></dd></dl>
DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-2019830037863868312012-11-28T00:15:00.001-05:002012-11-28T00:15:20.050-05:00Now Why This Fear?<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://sovereigngracemusic.org/Songs/Now_Why_This_Fear/2">from Sovereign Grace Music</a>:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 10px;"><strong>VERSE 1</strong></span><br />
Now why this fear and unbelief?<br />
Has not the Father put to grief<br />
His spotless Son for us?<br />
And will the righteous Judge of men<br />
Condemn me for that debt of sin<br />
Now canceled at the cross?<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: 10px;">CHORUS</span></strong><span> </span><br />
Jesus, all my trust is in Your blood<br />
Jesus, You’ve rescued us<br />
Through Your great love<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 10px;"><strong>VERSE 2</strong></span><span> </span><br />
Complete atonement You have made<br />
And by Your death have fully paid<br />
The debt Your people owed<br />
No wrath remains for us to face<br />
We’re sheltered by Your saving grace<br />
And sprinkled with Your blood<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 10px;"><strong>BRIDGE</strong></span><br />
How sweet the sound of saving grace<br />
How sweet the sound of saving grace<br />
Christ died for me<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 10px;"><strong>VERSE 3</strong></span><br />
Be still my soul and know this peace<br />
The merits of your great high priest<br />
Have bought your liberty<br />
Rely then on His precious blood<br />
Don’t fear your banishment from God<br />
Since Jesus sets you freeDRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-51585666043510113652012-11-20T12:05:00.000-05:002012-11-20T12:07:42.010-05:00Don't Complicate the Missionary Call<div class="post_content">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">from <a href="http://www.faimission.org/dont-complicate-the-missionary-call">faimission.org</a>: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The
following article is written by David Sitton, a dear friend of the FAI
family. It was included as an Appendix in Dalton Thomas’ book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Martyrdom-Missions-Maturity-Paperback-ebook/dp/B009AIN2U8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1352181968&sr=1-1&keywords=unto+death">Unto Death</a>. David is the founder of <a href="http://www.toeverytribe.com/">To Every Tribe</a> and the <a href="http://www.toeverytribe.com/pages/page.asp?page_id=72811">Center for Pioneer Church Planting</a>.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
~</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I chuckle when I hear missionaries say
they “surrendered to the call” of ministry. I always want to ask, “After
you surrendered, were you waterboarded, or just hauled off in handcuffs
and leg irons?” Was it really necessary for you to be abducted by a
heavenly vision before you would go joyfully into the work of the Gospel
in unreached places?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The missionary call is not like a prison
dog that tracks us down, sniffs us out, and hog-ties us for the
nations. That kind of talk bugs me! It’s bad theology. Nowhere in
Scripture is a “mysterious (supernatural) call” a prerequisite before we
can respond to the Great Commission. The opposite is actually true.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Don’t Wait for a Call<br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
No aspect of mission is more bogged down
with extra-biblical baggage than the “Missionary Call.” The clear
command of Christ “to go” should be, by itself, sufficient to set you on
your way to unreached regions.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
You can’t go wrong by trying to go. Be aggressive to go. The Lord will direct your moving feet.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Do you know how 99% of the
cross-cultural workers for the Gospel in the book of Acts got to the
unreached places? In a detailed missiological study of the book of Acts,
Bob Sjogren breaks it down for us.</div>
<blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
- 99% of the missionaries in Acts went cross-cultural because of one reason: Persecution.</div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
What about the other 1%?</div>
<blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
- 74% served cross-culturally because the apostle Paul challenged them to go.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
- 18% went because their local churches sent them.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
- 7% went simply because of their zeal and desire to do it!<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://www.faimission.org/dont-complicate-the-missionary-call#_ftn1" title="">[1]</a></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Dramatic calls to ministry are the
exception. If you have it in your heart to go, then go. And lean on the
sovereignty of God to get you where He wants you in the harvest.<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Try to Go</b><br />
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Paul tried to go into Asia, but the Lord
wouldn’t let him. He then tried to go to Bithynia, but “the Holy Spirit
forbade him.” Still, he kept trying to go. I count at least six cities
in Acts 16:1-6 where Paul tried to take the Gospel. It was only then
that the Lord gave him a vision of the Macedonian. He woke up the next
morning and immediately headed for the regions north. The point? Get
radical with the going and God will get radical in the specific guiding.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I was never called to be a missionary. I
wasn’t drafted. I volunteered. No special call was needed. I chose to
go. I want to go. I am compelled to go. Where I go is determined by an
open Bible (Romans 15:20-21) and a stretched-out map of unreached
regions where Jesus isn’t known. Going for Jesus and with Jesus to the
ends of the Earth is the privilege of a lifetime.<br />
<br /></div>
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.faimission.org/dont-complicate-the-missionary-call#_ftnref1" title="">[1]</a> Bill and Amy Stearns, <i>Run With The Vision</i>, (Bethany House Publishers), 125-126.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-71056370802475020552012-11-19T12:26:00.001-05:002012-11-19T12:26:17.891-05:00How God Makes a PencilBrilliant.
<iframe width="490" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IYO3tOqDISE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-42422067390677108302012-11-17T11:41:00.002-05:002012-11-17T11:43:24.864-05:00The Hour that Shook Japan<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6YpneKx8acI" width="490"></iframe><br />DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-14789920461788712122012-11-11T23:14:00.000-05:002012-11-17T11:44:01.857-05:00Reconsecration by Ralph WinterThe essence of the Great Commission today is that the survival of many millions of people depends on its fulfillment. But obedience to the Great Commission has more consistently been poisoned by affluence than by anything else. The antidote for affluence is reconsecration. Consecration is by definition the“setting apart of things for a holy use.”<br />
<br />
<u><b>WILL WARTIME PRIORITIES WORK?</b></u><br />
The missionary tradition has always stressed a practical measure of austerity and simplicity as well as a parity of level of consumption within its missionary ranks. But the same lifestyle is often seen as impractical among the people back home. Widespread reconsecration to a reformed lifestyle with wartime priorities is not likely to be successful among home-front believers:<br />
<br />
• So long as the Great Commission is thought impossible to fulfill;<br />
• So long as we think that the problems of the world are hopeless or that, conversely, they can be solved merely by politics or technology;<br />
• So long as our home problems loom larger to us than anyone else’s;<br />
• So long as people enamored of western culture do not understand that Chinese and Muslims can become evangelical Christians without abandoning their cultural systems—just as the Greeks did in Paul’s day;<br />
• So long as modern believers, like the ancient Hebrews, think that God’s sole concern is the blessing of our nation;<br />
• So long as well-paid evangelicals, both pastors and people, consider their money a gift from God to spend however they wish on themselves rather than a responsibility from God to help others in spiritual and economic need;<br />
• So long as we do not understand that he who would seek to save his life shall lose it.<br />
<br />
Ours is a save-yourself society if there ever was one. But does it really work? Underdeveloped societies suffer from one set of diseases: tuberculosis, malnutrition, pneumonia, parasites, typhoid, cholera, and so on. Affluent North America has virtually invented a whole new set of diseases: obesity, arteriosclerosis, heart disease, strokes, lung cancer, venereal diseases, cirrhosis of the liver, etc. And we’re more than ever plagued with the social diseases of drug addiction, alcoholism, divorce, abused children, suicide, murder.<br />
<br />
Take your choice. Our divorce courts, prisons, psychiatric offices and mental institutions are flooded. In saving ourselves, we have nearly lost ourselves.<br />
<br />
<u><b>HOW HARD HAVE WE TRIED TO SAVE OTHERS?</b></u><br />
The 8000 members of the Friends Missionary Prayer Band of South India support 80 fulltime missionaries in North India. If my denomination (with its unbelievably greater wealth per person) were to do that well, we would not be sending 500 missionaries but 26,000. In spite of their true poverty, these Indian believers are proportionately sending 50 times more cross- cultural missionaries than we are!<br />
<br />
The statistics are always embarrassing: We spend as much on chewing gum annually as we do on missions; our annual giving to foreign missions is equal to the amount we spend in a 52-day period on pet food. The comparisons aren’t fair, of course, since fewer of our society are giving to the fulfillment of the Great Commission than are buying pet food. But the pattern of our society is clear—we’re much like Ezekiel’s listeners:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #666666;">“They come as though they are sincere and sit before you listening. But they have no intention of doing what I tell them to; they talk very sweetly about loving the Lord, but with their hearts they are loving their money.…<br /><br />“My sheep wandered through the mountains and hills and over the face of the earth, and there was no one to search for them or care about them.… As I live, says the Lord God …you were no real shepherds at all, for you didn’t search for them [my flock]. You fed yourselves and let them starve.… Therefore, the Lord God says: ‘I will surely judge between these fat shepherds and their scrawny sheep… and I will notice which is plump and which is thin, and why!’”</span>—Ezekiel 33:31; 34:36; 34:8,20,22b.</blockquote>
<br />
We must be willing to adopt a wartime lifestyle if we are to play fair with the clear intent of Scripture. God is speaking here of more than just food for the hungry; our whole lives may be “plump” while others’ are “scrawny.”<br />
<br />
We must learn that Jesus meant it when He said, “Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required.” I believe that God cannot expect less from us in our Christian duty to save other nations than we in wartime require of ourselves to save our own nation.<br />
<br />
<br />
This means that we must be willing to adopt a wartime lifestyle if we are to play fair with the clear intent of Scripture that the people who sit in darkness shall see a great light. Otherwise, as Isaiah said, “I faint when I hear what God is planning” -- Isaiah 21:3.<br />
<br />
<br />
<u><b>WHAT DO WE DO?</b></u><br />
The essential tactic in adopting a wartime lifestyle is to build on pioneer mission perspective by a very simple and dramatic method. Those who are awakened from the groggy stupor of our times can, of course, go as missionaries. But they can also stay home and deliberately and decisively adopt a missionary support level as their standard of living and their basis of lifestyle regardless of income.<br />
<br />
This will free up an unbelievable amounts of money—so much so that if a million average Presbyterian households, for example, were to live within the average minister’s salary, it would create at least two billion “new” dollars annually. What a mighty gift to the nations if carefully spent on developmental missions!<br />
<br />
To reconsecrate ourselves to a wartime lifestyle will involve a mammoth upheaval for a significant minority. But with ends as noble as the Great Commission, a wartime lifestyle is an idea whose time has come. †DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-89281120803522128152012-10-22T22:27:00.001-04:002012-10-22T22:32:27.094-04:00Mission in Bold HumilityJ.J. Bonk writes in the International Bulletin of Missionary Research:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="indent">
With support from texts such as Isaiah 14:12–20,
theologians have generally agreed that the mother of all sins—Lucifer’s
folly—is pride. We human beings have proven sadly receptive to the Great
Deceiver’s DNA. Pride of race, nation, clan, religion, profession, and
accomplishment flourish in the fertile soil of individual and collective
egocentrism. Perhaps, as Sayers suggested and as Jesus’ encounters with
the professionally pious of his day proved, it is <i>especially</i> the prestigiously pious among us who reveal pride’s most hideously debilitating malformities.</div>
<br />
...Robert Wuthnow’s book <i>Boundless Faith: The Global Outreach of American Churches</i>
(2009) reflects the American conceit that “we are still the center
of the show.” Long held to be a self-evident political, economic, and
military truth, this delusion has too often infected Christian mission.
Any pride, including religious, requires comparison. We human beings are
comparative creatures, knowing who we are and where we fit, principally
by measuring ourselves against others. Pride is so woven into the warp
and woof of our lives that we are scarcely conscious of it.
Theologically self-assured missionaries in the days of Jesus received
his stinging condemnation: “You cross sea and land to make a single
convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as
yourselves” (Matt. 23:15). We can be sure that this was not what those
missionaries set out to do!<br />
<br />
<div class="indent">
...Whatever the thrust of Christian missionary
labors—whether incarnation among Muslims or disembodied voices over the
airwaves—genuine humility is not only appropriate but essential (Mark
10:41–45). Mission, in line with the wise counsel of the late David
Bosch, is a life of adventure that requires bold humility.</div>
</blockquote>
<br />DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-52085316179110214792012-10-11T00:02:00.000-04:002012-10-11T00:02:08.141-04:00Cultivate Humility<div class="views-row views-row-5 views-row-odd">
<div class="node-blog node clear-block node-teaser" id="node-2837">
<h1 class="title">
<a href="http://www.9marks.org/blog/cultivate-humility-part-1"> Cultivate Humility </a></h1>
<div class="meta">
<cite class="submitted"><br /><span class="date"></span>
</cite>
</div>
<div class="content">
"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="James 4.6" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/James%204.6" target="_blank">James 4:6</a> In his booklet <em></em><br />
<em>
</em><em></em><br />
<em>From Pride to Humility,</em> Stuart Scott has compiled <b><u>an insightful list of 30<br />
biblical indicators as to whether pride is resident in our hearts.</u></b> Read these slowly and prayerfully. <br /><br />
1. Complaining against or passing judgment on<br />
God (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Numbers 14.1-4" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Numbers%2014.1-4" target="_blank">Numbers 14:1-4</a>, <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Numbers 14.9" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Numbers%2014.9" target="_blank">9</a>, <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Numbers 14.11" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Numbers%2014.11" target="_blank">11</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Romans 9.20" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Romans%209.20" target="_blank">Romans 9:20</a>)<br /><br />
2. A lack of gratitude (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="2 Chronicles 32.25" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/2%20Chronicles%2032.25" target="_blank">2 Chronicles 32:25</a>)<br /><br />
3. Anger (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Proverbs 28.25" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2028.25" target="_blank">Proverbs 28:25</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Matthew 20.1-16" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Matthew%2020.1-16" target="_blank">Matthew 20:1-16</a>)<br /><br />
4. Seeing yourself as better than others (Luke<br />
7:36-50)<br /><br />
5. Having an inflated view of your importance,<br />
gifts and abilities (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Acts 12.21-23" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Acts%2012.21-23" target="_blank">Acts 12:21-23</a>)<br /><br />
6. Being focused on the lack of your gifts and<br />
abilities (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="1 Cor. 12.14-25" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Cor.%2012.14-25" target="_blank">1 Cor. 12:14-25</a>)<br /><br />
7. Perfectionism (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Matthew 23.24-28" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Matthew%2023.24-28" target="_blank">Matthew 23:24-28</a>)<br /><br />
8. Talking too much (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Proverbs 10.19" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2010.19" target="_blank">Proverbs 10:19</a>)<br /><br />
9. Talking too much about yourself (Proverbs<br />
27:2; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Galatians 6.3" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Galatians%206.3" target="_blank">Galatians 6:3</a>)<br /><br />
10. Seeking independence or control (1<br />
Corinthians 1:10-13; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Ephesians 5.21" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ephesians%205.21" target="_blank">Ephesians 5:21</a>)<br /><br />
11. Being consumed with what others think<br />
(<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Galatians 1.10" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Galatians%201.10" target="_blank">Galatians 1:10</a>)<br /><br />
12. Being devastated or angered by criticism<br />
(<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Proverbs 13.1" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2013.1" target="_blank">Proverbs 13:1</a>)<br /><br />
13. Being unteachable (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Proverbs 19.20" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2019.20" target="_blank">Proverbs 19:20</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="John 9.13-34" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/John%209.13-34" target="_blank">John 9:13-34</a>)<br /><br />
14. Being sarcastic, hurtful, degrading, talking<br />
down to them(<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Proverbs 12.18" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2012.18" target="_blank">Proverbs 12:18</a>, <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Proverbs 12.24" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2012.24" target="_blank">24</a>)<br /><br />
15. A lack of service (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Galatians 5.13" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Galatians%205.13" target="_blank">Galatians 5:13</a>, Ephesians<br />
2:10)<br /><br />
16. A lack of compassion (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Matthew 5.7" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Matthew%205.7" target="_blank">Matthew 5:7</a>, <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Matthew 18.23-35" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Matthew%2018.23-35" target="_blank">18:23-35</a>)<br /><br />
17. Being defensive or blame-shifting (Genesis<br />
3:12-13; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Proverbs 12.1" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2012.1" target="_blank">Proverbs 12:1</a>)<br /><br />
18. A lack of admitting when you are wrong<br />
(<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Proverbs 10.17" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2010.17" target="_blank">Proverbs 10:17</a>)<br /><br />
19. A lack of asking forgiveness (Matthew<br />
5:23-24)<br /><br />
20. A lack of biblical prayer (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Luke 18.10-14" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Luke%2018.10-14" target="_blank">Luke 18:10-14</a>)<br /><br />
21. Resisting authority or being disrespectful<br />
(<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="1 Peter 2.13-17" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Peter%202.13-17" target="_blank">1 Peter 2:13-17</a>)<br /><br />
22. Voicing preferences or opinions when not<br />
asked (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Philippians 2.1-4" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Philippians%202.1-4" target="_blank">Philippians 2:1-4</a>)<br /><br />
23. Minimizing your own sin and shortcomings<br />
(<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Matthew 7.3-5" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Matthew%207.3-5" target="_blank">Matthew 7:3-5</a>)<br /><br />
24. Maximizing others’ sin and shortcomings<br />
(<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Matthew 7.3-5" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Matthew%207.3-5" target="_blank">Matthew 7:3-5</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Luke 18.9-14" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Luke%2018.9-14" target="_blank">Luke 18:9-14</a>)<br /><br />
25. Being impatient or irritable with others<br />
(<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Ephesians 4.31-32" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ephesians%204.31-32" target="_blank">Ephesians 4:31-32</a>)<br /><br />
26. Being jealous or envious (1 Corinthians<br />
13:4)<br /><br />
27. Using others (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Matthew 7.12" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Matthew%207.12" target="_blank">Matthew 7:12</a>; Philippians<br />
2:3-4)<br /><br />
28. Being deceitful by covering up sins, faults,<br />
and mistakes (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Proverbs 11.3" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2011.3" target="_blank">Proverbs 11:3</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Proverbs 28.13" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2028.13" target="_blank">28:13</a>)<br /><br />
29. Using attention-getting tactics (1 Peter<br />
3:3,4)<br /><br />
30. Not having close relationships (Proverbs<br />
18:1-2; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Hebrews 10.24-25" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Hebrews%2010.24-25" target="_blank">Hebrews 10:24-25</a>)<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="meta">
<cite class="submitted"><br /><span class="date"></span>
</cite>
</div>
<div class="content">
"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="James 4.6" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/James%204.6" target="_blank">James 4:6</a> Here's more great stuff to read slowly and prayerfully from Stuart Scott's <em>From Pride to Humility:<br /></em><br />
<u><b>A list of 24 manifestations of what Christ exalting humility should<br />
produce in your life. </b></u><br /><br />
1. Recognizing and trusting God’s character<br />
(<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Psalm 119.66" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Psalm%20119.66" target="_blank">Psalm 119:66</a>)<br /><br />
2. Seeing yourself as having no right to<br />
question or judge an Almighty and Perfect God (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Psalm 145.17" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Psalm%20145.17" target="_blank">Psalm 145:17</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Romans 9.19-23" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Romans%209.19-23" target="_blank">Romans 9:19-23</a>)<br /><br />
3. Focusing on Christ (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Philippians 1.21" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Philippians%201.21" target="_blank">Philippians 1:21</a>;<br />
<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Hebrews 12.1-2" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Hebrews%2012.1-2" target="_blank">Hebrews 12:1-2</a>)<br /><br />
4. Biblical praying and a great deal of it (1<br />
<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Thessalonians 5.17" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Thessalonians%205.17" target="_blank">Thessalonians 5:17</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="1 Timothy 2.1-2" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Timothy%202.1-2" target="_blank">1 Timothy 2:1-2</a>)<br /><br />
5. Being overwhelmed with God’s undeserved<br />
grace and goodness (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Psalm 116.12-19" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Psalm%20116.12-19" target="_blank">Psalm 116:12-19</a>)<br /><br />
6. Thankfulness and gratitude in general<br />
towards others (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="1 Thess. 5.18" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Thess.%205.18" target="_blank">1 Thess. 5:18</a>)<br /><br />
7. Being gentle and patient (Colossians<br />
3:12-14)<br /><br />
8. Seeing yourself as no better than others<br />
(<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Romans 12.16" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Romans%2012.16" target="_blank">Romans 12:16</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Ephesians 3.8" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ephesians%203.8" target="_blank">Ephesians 3:8</a>)<br /><br />
9. Having an accurate view of your gifts and<br />
abilities (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Romans 12.3" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Romans%2012.3" target="_blank">Romans 12:3</a>)<br /><br />
10. Being a good listener (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="James 1.19" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/James%201.19" target="_blank">James 1:19</a>;<br />
<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Philippians 2.3-4" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Philippians%202.3-4" target="_blank">Philippians 2:3-4</a>)<br /><br />
11. Talking about others only if it is good or<br />
for their good (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Proverbs 11.13" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2011.13" target="_blank">Proverbs 11:13</a>)<br /><br />
12. Being gladly submissive and obedient to<br />
those in authority (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Rom. 12.1-2" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Rom.%2012.1-2" target="_blank">Rom. 12:1-2</a>, <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Rom 13.1-2" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Rom%2013.1-2" target="_blank">13:1-2</a>)<br /><br />
13. Preferring others over yourself (Romans<br />
12:10)<br /><br />
14. Being thankful for criticism or reproof<br />
(<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Proverbs 9.8" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%209.8" target="_blank">Proverbs 9:8</a>, <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Proverbs 27.5-6" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2027.5-6" target="_blank">27:5-6</a>)<br /><br />
15. Having a teachable spirit (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Proverbs 9.9" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%209.9" target="_blank">Proverbs 9:9</a>)<br /><br />
16. Seeking always to build up<br />
others (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Ephesians 4.29" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ephesians%204.29" target="_blank">Ephesians 4:29</a>)<br /><br />
17. Serving (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Galatians 5.13" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Galatians%205.13" target="_blank">Galatians 5:13</a>)<br /><br />
18. A quickness in admitting<br />
when you are wrong (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Proverbs 29.23" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2029.23" target="_blank">Proverbs 29:23</a>)<br /><br />
19. A quickness in granting and<br />
asking for forgiveness (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Colossians 3.12-14" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Colossians%203.12-14" target="_blank">Colossians 3:12-14</a>)<br /><br />
20. Repenting of sin as a way<br />
of life (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Colossians 3.1-14" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Colossians%203.1-14" target="_blank">Colossians 3:1-14</a>; <a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="1 Timothy 4.7-9" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/1%20Timothy%204.7-9" target="_blank">1 Timothy 4:7-9</a>)<br /><br />
21. Minimizing others’ sins or<br />
shortcomings in comparison to one’s own (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Matthew 7.3-4" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Matthew%207.3-4" target="_blank">Matthew 7:3-4</a>)<br /><br />
22. Being genuinely glad for<br />
others (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Romans 12.15" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Romans%2012.15" target="_blank">Romans 12:15</a>)<br /><br />
23. Being honest and open about<br />
who you are and the areas in which you need growth (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Philippians 3.12-14" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Philippians%203.12-14" target="_blank">Philippians 3:12-14</a>;<br />
<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Galatians 6.2" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Galatians%206.2" target="_blank">Galatians 6:2</a>)<br /><br />
24. Possessing close<br />
relationships (<a class="lbsBibleRef" data-reference="Acts 20.31-38" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Acts%2020.31-38" target="_blank">Acts 20:31-38</a>)<br />
</div>
<div class="links-comments">
<br />
</div>
</div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.9marks.org/blog/cultivate-humility-part-2">from 9Marks</a></span>DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-85315541448584967622012-08-31T08:57:00.000-04:002012-08-31T08:57:20.892-04:00What Congregationalism Is, and Isn't<a href="http://www.9marks.org/blog/nine-ideas-better-members%E2%80%99-meetings">Brad Wheeler at 9Marks</a> makes these helpful distinctions:<br />
<br />
<strong><em>What Congregationalism Is, and Isn’t.</em></strong>
<br />
Seventh, occasionally remind people what congregationalism is, and
isn’t. Some have the mistaken notion that congregationalism is the same
as American democracy, or is the byproduct of it. Neither are true.<br />
Yes, Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom to the congregation (Mt
16.19) when it comes to matters of church membership (2 Cor. 2:6),
discipline (Matt. 18:17; 1 Cor. 5:1-13), and doctrine (Gal. 1:6-9; 2
Tim. 4:3). And yes, each member is given a vote. But that doesn’t mean
there is anything godly in debate for debate’s sake, or that it’s the
right of every member to have their voice heard, or that the elders and
deacons serve like a bicameral legislature. Elders are still called to
rule (1 Tim. 5.17), and members are still called to submit and obey <em>for their own advantage</em> (Heb. 13.17).<br />
Playing devil’s advocate or token contrarian is a mark of immaturity,
not a badge of honor. We would do well to remind our people that when
Paul exhorts Timothy to flee “youthful passions” (2 Tim. 2.22), he’s not
thinking first about sexual sin, but being quarrelsome.DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-51365863442251120592012-08-19T23:58:00.003-04:002012-08-19T23:59:32.074-04:00Young Men...Go Out to Preach the Gospel to the Nations that Don't Know Christ"If you're a young man this is probably not the time for you to write a book & change the world, or have a blog that gets hits from all over the planet. If you're a young man this is your time to prepare yourself to become a man of God. Not to be on the internet, but to be alone with God in prayer until He pours out His Spirit on you and makes you a useful servant...& then go out and use your life and preach the Gospel to the nations that don't know Christ..." Paul David Washer<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9KVN4R6Vi80" width="490"></iframe><br />DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-29934591265211159972012-07-21T12:02:00.000-04:002012-07-21T12:02:23.409-04:00What's in a Name? Japan, Nippon, Nihon, Jih-pen, 日本<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OC-JZ4GlW0I/UArSYl_znAI/AAAAAAAAHwE/yKQRHc_9IP0/s1600/nihonkanji.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OC-JZ4GlW0I/UArSYl_znAI/AAAAAAAAHwE/yKQRHc_9IP0/s200/nihonkanji.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Westerners often refer to Japan as "the land of the rising sun." Like so many things from the Japanese language, this is a somewhat lost in translation descriptor. This is what Westerners accept as the translation of what the word Japan means. But the devil is in the details. This is close, but still widely misses the mark.<br />
<br />
When Chinese, thousands of years ago, saw the sun rise over the islands of the east, they named that country "jih-pen." That's where English-speakers get the pronunciation for our term, Japan. Japanese call the country Nihon (Nee-hone) or when it comes to official things like government, national sports, postal service, it is called Nippon (Nee'Pone).<br />
<br />
The translation for the Chinese name for "jih-pen" means "the source of the sun." And when you look at the kanji that makes up the word "Japan" in Japanese, 日本, you see this hits the true mark of the meaning. The first character, 日, in this case means sun and 本 means origin or birthplace in this kanji combination. So the literal translation is not "land of the rising sun," but is actually "the origin or birthplace of the sun." Or as the Chinese said thousands of years ago, "the source of the sun."<br />
<br />
That's a vast difference. The place the sun rises (which everywhere can claim) versus the place from which the sun was born, or the place where the sun originates, carries an entirely different meaning and weight.
When every time you hear your country's name you hear, "the land that gave birth to the sun," that may indeed inspire some nationalism in you. It's a very different thing than hearing, "USA," as proud as we are. And what is the sun except the earthly source of all life? This is the kind of pride that can lead you into world war, or cause you to think you are born superior to other cultures, peoples, & nations. This kind of pride can lead you to say, "why do I need your weak, crucified Son when I am of the people whose land created the life-giving sun?"<br />
<br />
There's a lot to a name. Next time you hear Japan referred to as "the land of the rising sun," don't let it fool you. Now that you know what the name really means, let every time you hear the word mentioned in a newscast or see it online or read it on a product, let it prompt you to pray for this nation that on the whole as a people, has never come close to rejecting their pride in their sun. Pray they will repent and believe in the true Creator of the sun's Son.DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-60804701196396076842012-07-17T11:08:00.000-04:002012-07-17T11:08:00.134-04:00For Kids: A Tale of a Colombian Coming to ChristA child story-teller takes us to the jungle and through the story of how one Indigenous woman came to know Jesus.
<embed style="width:4750px; height:375px;" id="mediaviewer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://mediaviewer.mediasuite.org/mediaviewer.swf" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" flashvars="&mvid=5836&mvidext=flv&autoplay=false"> </embed>DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-55760092293650675062012-07-10T09:00:00.000-04:002012-07-12T12:50:18.873-04:00Dreaming About a Hidden PeopleSee what happens when a church commits to pray for an unengaged, unreached people group in West Africa.
<embed style="width:490px; height:375px;" id="mediaviewer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://mediaviewer.mediasuite.org/mediaviewer.swf" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" flashvars="&mvid=12233&mvidext=flv&autoplay=false"> </embed>DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15144378.post-36089427394223068862012-07-09T10:44:00.004-04:002012-07-09T10:46:40.513-04:00This is South AsiaWould you pray for the billions in this region, deceived and hopeless apart from Christ?
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/44226979" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="470"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/44226979">This is South Asia</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/southasia">South Asia</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
<br />DRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08448106892513536585noreply@blogger.com