DownshoreDrift

I've been going through some pictures of India in preparation for our trip in October and I thought I would post them here. I don't have much to say lately because I have been so busy - no real thoughts brewing in my brain. Actually, I find that I am out of words lately. But, I am contemplating things more and I am thinking through imagery more through the written word, it seems. So, here are a few pics (some edited) to let you know why this part of the world in all it's beauty and poverty is capturing my heart. Perhaps you will find some time to pray for the lost of Northern India. They desperately need to be reconnected to their Creator through faith in Christ. They have so many gifts that God is waiting to redeem.

I plan to return to India this fall (October) with another small team to do some training in holistic ministry and to try and help with some clean water projects in villages up in the Himalayas. We are also going to start a business through microlending that would enable abused women from a ministry to gain a livelihood and also be able to be a witness for Christ. When you are dealing directly with the work overseas and are dealing with trustworthy people (our contacts go back for 30 years), it is amazing how far a little bit can go. We plan to have a missions dinner/fundraiser at the end of August and I had an idea to frame and mat some of the pictures that I have taken from my travels and auction them off to raise money to put in clean water tanks and support orphans in the children's home we are working with. I thought I'd preview some of the pictures here and ask which ones you thought might be best. This set is from Paris and also from India. I did some pretty heavy editing to some of them. Tell me which ones you like best and it will probably influence me to frame that one. I'll provide more sets for scrutiny later.

For the record, I still think that they are. I know many who are doing a great job of being catalysts for church planting and other things that are desperately needed. They also act as contact people for the churches in the West. If it were not for Southern Baptist IMB missionaries, we never would have gotten connected with the work in Northern India that we are connecting with.

But, there are other possibilities. As I have said before, I believe that global mission work is changing. I think that interaction and participation from common Christians is only going to increase. I read an article on The Great Commission from the ABP. Here is an excerpt that pretty much describes what we, as a church, are attempting:

Indigenous church leaders

Based on Buckner’s experience, Hall stressed the importance of Western Christians working as servants alongside national Christians in developing nations -- not working as outsiders who think they have all the answers.

In some places, cross-cultural missionaries still may be needed, he conceded. But generally, instead of training Christians to invest their lives in a foreign culture, available funds could be spent better by helping indigenous, national Christians who already know the language and culture, Hall suggested.

Those nationals, in turn, can facilitate the work of short-term missions teams mobilized by their own churches, in partnership with ministries that have international connections.

That model works for Buckner because modern technology allows instant communication between administrators and the international field staff in eight countries, and -- more to the point -- because Buckner trusts Christians overseas to have the best understanding of their own culture and its needs, he noted.

“I think that a lot of models out there that rely on U.S. missionaries to take the message to other people groups have adopted that model because they don’t trust the Christians already there to get the message across,” Hall wrote in a blog earlier this year. “They can.”

I found the article, over all, to be very thought provoking. My prayer is that every U.S. church would see it as a divine mandate to exist to transform the world, both locally and globally, through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This can only happen as we participate in partnerships and networks designed for that task. I pray that we would continue to give financially, but more than that, that we would actually participate in what God is doing around the world by using all of our gifts and talents through going ourselves. What do you think?

In 1994, I was a 19 year old college sophomore from Mississippi State University who went on summer missions with the Baptist Student Union. I was sent to California where I met Greg Sumii, who was the director of the summer missions program for the California State Baptist Convention. We had an orientation in the mountains at the state baptist camp called Jenness Park and two life changing events happened to me there. First: I met my future wife, Erika. She was a college student from the University of Alabama who was also a summer missionary. And, she was really hot. She still is. I remember the first time I saw her. We talked later, and while everything was very spiritual and godly in nature, a connection was formed that we nurtured throughout the summer by writing letters. When we returned to our universities, we stared dating (MSU and Alabama are only 90 miles apart). But, I digress.

Second: I was taught the mantra of the California BSU Summer Missionary: Pray. Be Flexible. Have a Good Attitude. I was so open and teachable at the time that it made an incredible difference. I digested that teaching and incorporated it into my spiritual DNA. I did Vacation Bible Schools all summer, and I prayed for the kids each and every day. I prayed for them until my heart was broken and I found myself weeping over them. I prayed for their souls, and before every presentation of the gospel with either children, youth, or adults that summer, I prayed that God would break me and anoint me with the power of His Spirit. We saw over 60 decisions for Christ that summer from our little team of myself and another girl from a community college in Mississippi. God answered prayers.

I also learned to be flexible. Plans were changed at the last minute. Things did not go as planned. Host homes fell through and supplies were not available. It didn't matter. I was flexible, right? Along with that came a consistent practice of having a good attitude. Whatever came my way, I made it a habit to praise God and not complain. After a week in the mountains with 40 teenagers, I became deathly ill. Apparently, they meant it when they said that you were not to drink the water from the mountain streams. I developed some type of intesinal sickness that produced diarrhea that left me dehydrated. I passed out one day from it. The problem was, I had been placed in a home by my host family across the street from them. He was a pastor and he arranged for me to stay in the home of a neighbor while they were on vacation. While I was sick, neither he nor his wife came to check on me. Barefoot and delirious, I wandered over there one day and said that I was dehydrated and needed some Gatorade. This was after I had passed out on the floor of the bathroom. The pastor's wife gave me the keys to the van and sent me to a convenience store. Still barefoot and delirious, I drove to get myself something to drink. I did not complain or even see anything wrong with the way I was being treated. I was thankful for the Gatorade and the relief that it provided. After praying for myself profusely, I recovered and was able to continue with mission work throughout the rest of the summer. I wish I still had that attitude all the time now, but I was a missionary, right? How could I see things any differently?

I only tell that story because there was something very powerful in Greg Sumii's ministry to me that summer. I learned that when I am serving the Lord it is not about me. It is about Him and the people that He is sending me to. Problems may arise and difficulties may come, but our strength is in the Lord. My wife and I taught these three principles to the 23 from our church who went down to the Gulf Coast on the mission trip last week. We ingrained it into the children and whenever fatigue or crankiness would begin to set in, we would remind them of the 3 Rules for Missionaries. It worked great. We had a great plan of having a 4th of July Picnic for all of the people that we had met in Waveland, and when the skies opened with a deluge 5 minutes after the picnic started and we got completely rained out, no one complained. The kids had joy playing in the rain and we just changed our plans and delivered the food to the people instead. We had enough left over for a group of 15 teenagers who were helping work on a home as well. God was glorified through the food we delivered as well as through our attitudes.

Those lessons learned long ago have served me well. I am thankful to Greg Sumii and the Baptist Student Union Summer Missions Program. I am thankful that I met my wife there. I am also thankful that God taught me through all of that that we are all missionaries all the time and we need to always pray, be flexible, and have a good attitude! I confess that I often fall short of those ideals, but when I think back to that life shaping experience, I am reminded of the power of simplicity and obedience.

Here are some pictures of our trip to Waveland, MS with Pathfinder Mission that I found interesting. The pictures were specifically chosen to tell a story of faithfulness and progress in the midst of destruction and despair. God is at work in all types of ways in Waveland, MS through His people - and, it's not the first time it has happened this way. Let me know what you think.

I've got some more stories and pictures from our recent trip to the Gulf Coast coming this weekend, but in the meantime, I thought that I'd point to this article:

Ritzy missions trips aim for wealthy


    HAMILTON, Bermuda — This year, instead of helping a missions team build a church sanctuary in Honduras, Bill Taylor of Open Bible Church in Wichita is evangelizing at beach resorts in Bermuda.
    "Now this is missions work," says Taylor while striking up spiritual conversation with wealthy resort guests.
    As more church-goers tire of spending vacation time in the Third World, churches are taking a break from poverty and targeting the luxury class with the gospel.
    "Our worldview had gotten too narrow," says one pastor. "Rich people need Jesus, too."
    Grace Family Church of Littleton, Colo., recently started a ministry called Higher Calling and sent a missions team to tony boutiques in Milan’s fashion district. The group reached out to watchmakers, jewelry store workers and super-wealthy patrons.
    "People who were never interested in missions trips are jumping at the chance to go," says the pastor.
    Team member Joyce Andrews says the salespeople "will tolerate a lot of evangelizing if you are committed to buying a diamond necklace or a watch." Andrews says she felt vastly more effective evangelizing luxury jewelry shop employees than on her last three trips to Central America.
    "I feel useless in poor places," she says. "But I found I fit very well in wealthier environments. Striking up spiritual conversations at the perfume counter is right up my alley."
    Pastor Brent Keefauver says his congregation in Miami was suffering from "poverty fatigue" because of the malnutrition and generally dismal motif most missions trips offer.
    "We were gaining a global perspective, but losing the joy of the Lord," he says. "We had to switch gears fast."
   

I heard this refrain quite a few times while we were down on the Gulf Coast this past week. Everyone believed in God. Everyone. They all pray. They all have some sort of faith. The Mississippi Gulf Coast is a heavily Catholic region and there is a pervading sense of spirituality and of faith in God.  Yet, so many really do not have a relationship with Christ. They are not sure if they are going to heaven. They hope that God is not wrathful toward them.

As I talked with our team, I told them that we were dealing with people who believed in both faith and works. Our job was to encourage them toward the faith side. We were to pray with them, to talk about Jesus be the only sacrifice for sin, to encourage them to place their full faith and trust in Jesus and to not believe in anything else. At times it was difficult, but at other times, the people were very open.

But, by and large, most saw their faith in God through an individualistic lense. They could pray and follow God on their own, so why did they need the church? Why attend church when God was personal or I could just engage in some type of abstract belief in Him and receive His blessing? All in all, spiritual life was about them, but it rarely reached into their everyday life. Yet, they were so very glad that the Baptists had come. Over and over again I heard from Catholics that if it had not been for the Baptists and the other Christian groups, they do not know what they would have done.

Fortunately for them, all of those Christians who came did not share the same individualistic notions of faith that some of them did. Many want to both believe in God and maintain their own independence. They want to have faith, yet have total freedom. Yet, God set it up where all followers of Christ would gather together in a church, the ecclesia, the called out ones. As we gather together loving God and loving others, we experience His presence and power, both individually and collectively. We also become His hands and feet and we bring His Kingdom into this world - together. Every group that goes down to New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast is giving a powerful witness of the necessity and beauty of God's people, the church, being who they are created to be.  If your church has not yet gone down, you are missing a historical moment that will likely not come around again anytime soon. Sow seeds into the lives of the people of the Gulf Coast region.

Yes, people still say that they don't need the church to follow God. But, they are saying it with much less confidence as they see God's people live out their faith and not just talk about it. Hearts are being turned and people are asking questions. They are opening up to the Lord. That tends to happen when a Baptist group that you have never met travels from Tennessee and rebuilds your house.

Jesus said it was loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself. Paul agreed and said that he preached nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified, which was the fulfillment of Jesus' love for the Father and for us (But God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us - Romans 5:8). Loving God. Loving People.

I'm in Waveland, Mississippi this week with a group from our church to work with Pathfinder Mission. We brought a bunch of families down with their kids to visit people, help them out some, pray with them, counsel them, and throw a big party on Wednesday for the 4th of July. I am seeing some people that I met last year (check out my posts from the Coast from July, 2006) and am catching up on how they have progressed. Over and over I am hearing one constant refrain: If it weren't for Christians and the church, we don't know where we would be. This is coming from many who are non-Christians. They are so thankful. They welcome us into their homes out of respect for all who have come before us. They welcome us and thank us because of all that have come before who have loved God and have loved them. Christianity has been lived out down here and it has made a difference.

But, we don't always experience this in the Church in America. I wonder if a big part of our problem has been that we have allowed "truth" to be taught to us by academics who have parsed every verb and split every hair. I wonder if we have allowed the pharisees, who are the experts in the Law, to dictate to us what it means to believe the truth and we have submitted ourselves to that interpretation to the point that it has affected our ability to work with others. Maybe we should take some time to listen to those swinging the hammers and leading the mission teams. There is a lady that I met last year named Hazel. She is in her 80's, and when I met her she was living in a FEMA trailer next to a home that had been stripped to the studs. Today, I saw her in a newly repaired home. It was fixed up by a church from Massachusetts who came down again and again. I don't know every jot and tittle of their theology, but they told her about Jesus and they showed her love. I have a good feeling that I'll see them in heaven. If I will be with them in heaven, shouldn't I find a way to work with people like that now? As a matter of fact, unless they are teaching something that will keep people out of heaven, do I not have a responsibility to find common ground with them and keep the unity of the saints in Christ? Once you really begin to face the desperate need and lostness of people, it is hard to understand why you would not want to work with as many Christians as you could to bring the love of Jesus to the Nations.

When Christians are on mission together, the world experiences the love of Christ made flesh. We become His hands and feet. Those hands and feet continue to make a difference on the Gulf Coast. If your church has yet to take a trip down here, you are missing an incredible blessing. So many are still in need and there is still so much work to be done. Everyone that could help themselves has already done so.  Much of the work that is left is among the elderly, the disabled, and those who are alone and have no means of support. They are good people and they are trying their best. They just need a helping hand. Please pray about joining the massive parade of Christians who have come down here and have made a difference in the lives of people on the Gulf Coast.

Something tells me that I am seeing the core of Christianity lived out down here. Theology makes a lot more sense when people are living it instead of arguing about it. When you are in trouble, there is little time to divide over every little doctrine. You roll your sleeves up, find out where you can cooperate, and you get to work building the Kingdom - one broken life at a time.

I'll have more reports and a lot of pictures later in the next couple of days. You really need to see the before and after pictures of Hazel's house!

WorldconneX is a ministry that I became aware of about a year and a half ago and I get their e-newsletter. The one this month had some really incredible stuff in it concerning mobilization for mission through the ordinary people of your church. We have been exploring these concepts in our church for a couple of years now and we are seeing some fruit beginning to emerge. Check out these excellent articles if you are interested in how ordinary believers in Christ can transform nations using their skills, gifts, abilities, and professional platforms in a world that has become MUCH smaller due to technology and globalization.

Churches Thinking From the "Inside Out."

"Missions" Is Dead.

This type of thinking is really influencing the way I see God's Mission in the 21st Century. Everything is changing. Is it possible that we have moved from a society model of missions in the 19th century, to a convention model of missions in the 20th century, to a local church, affinity model of missions in the 21st century? We are probably not moving to a clean break from one to another, but a combination of all three working together. What do you think?

This morning we leave for India. Three of us are going on a delegation of sorts to establish contacts for a future public health conference and to explore microbanking initiatives. We hope to have lots of conversations with people about their own future and the future of India as well. We will learn a lot, but we also hope to help people find the Way. We'll be gone for almost two weeks, so blogging will be sporadic, if it happens at all. I do hope to find a few internet cafe's along the way, so I'll post updates as I can. Please pray for safety, health, and divine encounters along our journey.

I've done a lot of study over the years on the place of culture and worldview when it comes to issues of development. There is a large amount of scholarship that is beginning to emerge that is pointing to culture being the overriding factor behind the economic development of a nation. I believe that India's biggest problem regarding the poverty and mortality of the vast majority of it's people has to do with worldview and culture. I know that that is not a huge shock to most of my readership, but the secular world has only recently begun to think this way. We plan to help them along a bit.

Since I won't be posting much, I want to recommend a paper for your reading pleasure. It was written by Dr. Thom Wolf, president of Global Spectrum, and delivered at Lucknow University in India. In it, he explores the factors that make cultures progress prone or progress resistant. His conclusions are very interesting and hold dramatic implications for us globally, as well as here in America as we continue to grapple with a culture that is spinning wildly out of control. If you have time, read it and tell me what you think.

Progress Prone vs. Progress Resistant Cultures by Dr. Thom Wolf

Grace and Peace.

"For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the Kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ." - Acts 28:30-31

I ran across this verse at the end of Acts the other day and I've been thinking about it ever since. Paul, while under house arrest, preached the Kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ. What does it mean to "preach the Kingdom of God?" We know what teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ is pretty much, but, the Kingdom of God? Not so much, I'm afraid. I don't what to separate Jesus from the Kingdom, but it seems that more is meant here than that they are the very same thing. Of course, everywhere Jesus goes, His Kingdom is manifest, but what does that really mean?

The Kingdom seemed to be a pretty big deal to Jesus. Matthew 4:23 says, "Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people."  He taught his followers to pray, "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt. 5:10).  He sent the Twelve out and told them "As you go, preach this message: 'The Kingdom of Heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give" (Matt. 10:7-8). So many of Jesus' parables were about the Kingdom, as well. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed . . . yeast . . . a treasure. Jesus preached it. Paul preached it. We are told to preach it ("And this gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole word as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come" - Matt. 24:14).

So, if it was that big of a deal, then what is it? How much teaching do we hear on the Kingdom of God? How many of us really know what it is? A simple definition would be that a Kingdom is wherever the King reigns and rules. When Jesus said "the Kingdom of God is within you" (Lk. 17:21), He was speaking of the place where His Spirit would reside and where He would reign and rule. When the gospel of the Kingdom is preached, it is meant to bring people and all creation under the reign and rule of the King, Jesus Christ. We are not to just preach, teach, and obey a gospel that allows us to be unchanged within and that just gets us into heaven. The gospel of the Kingdom is to be all encompassing. It is to touch every aspect of our lives and bring redemption to dead places within us, our families, communities, culture, and world. We are to literally pray that God's Kingdom would come and that His will would be done on earth, just like it is in Heaven! Do we really pray that way? Do we live that way? Do we preach that way?

I think that what Jesus and Paul meant by the gospel of the Kingdom is a whole lot bigger than what we hear in our churches. What do you think the gospel of the Kingdom is, and how can we see it in our lives and the world around us?

I just got Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty. It is the story of Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Yunus and Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for their work in providing micro loans to the poorest of the poor and helping lift them out of poverty stricken conditions. Wikipedia had this basic explaination for what Yunus has been doing:

In 1976, Yunus founded the Grameen Bank (Grameen means "of rural area", "of village") to make loans to poor Bangladeshis. The Grameen Bank has issued more than US$ 5.1 billion to 5.3 million borrowers. To ensure repayment, the bank uses a system of "solidarity groups". These small informal groups apply together for loans and its members act as co-guarantors of repayment and support one another's efforts at economic self-advancement^[8]. As it has grown, the Grameen Bank has also developed other systems of alternate credit that serve the poor. In addition to microcredit, it offers education loans and housing loans as well as financing for fisheries and irrigation projects, venture capital, textiles, and other activities, along with other banking services such as savings.

The success of the Grameen model has inspired similar efforts throughout the developing world and even in industrialized nations, including the United States. The Grameen model of micro financing has been emulated in 23 countries. Many, but not all, microcredit projects also retain its emphasis on lending specifically to women. More than 96% of Grameen loans have gone to women, who suffer disproportionately from poverty and who are more likely than men to devote their earnings to their families^[9].

While I am trying to find myself this weekend, I plan on reading a good portion of this book. From what I can tell, this man has done amazing work and he has made a major impact in reducing poverty by helping people help themselves. I am inspired. In a little over a week, I will be heading up an expedition to Northern India to develop relationships that will enable us to return and put on a public health conference with professionals from Alabama, as well as participate in microbanking possibilities with the head of an investment company that has set up their own non-profit to aid the poor of the world according the principles found in Isaiah 58. We are also exploring the set up of a non-profit called Community Development Initiatives (CDI) that will help us with this work, as well as many other things, both locally and globally. Our desire is to facilitate spiritual, social, and economic transformation from a Christian worldview by connecting Christian professionals and their resources with local/global need.

It seems to me that Yunus is doing part of the mission of the Church. We are to make disciples of nations and bring God's Kingdom on earth. We are to care for the poor, help people reflect the image of God, and truly help people connect relationally to God, one another, and their world. People like Yunus are revealing part of God's plan, if we would just pay attention. What if we began to appropriate the billions of dollars that American Christians give and spend on themselves to such initiatives? What if our incredible wealth began to flow in such a way as to help the poorest of the poor help themselves? Yunus says, "Poor people are not asking for charity; charity is not a solution for poverty."  He is helping lift them out of poverty by giving them the means to develop their own businesses and provision and help themselves. What if the Church did the same? There are many examples of the Church doing just that, but not enough. I want to make more. And, if it is done from a gospel perspective, just like we have been doing on the Gulf Coast in the wake of Katrina, what could the limits be?

For several years, a group of us went to a local housing project every Sunday afternoon. We got know the people, did Bible studies and had prayer time. I became the unofficial chaplain to the Crips gang there and a personal confidante to the head of the gang over that area. God actually used me to lead him to the Lord. We met a guy one Sunday who had been in jail continuously from the age of 18 to 32. He had just gotten out after becoming a Christian in jail. We met with him every week, prayed with him, and helped him stay off drugs and out of jail. He's still out today, 3 years later, and is walking with the Lord. We saw many saved and many lives transformed.

Still, I was frustrated that we did not see more transformation. We gained trust. We spent hours in people's homes praying for them and getting to know them. The community embraced us. Yet, there were so many who were excited to see us and would respond when we were there, but when we left, they would immediately revert back to old ways. I would wonder why and spent a good deal of time praying about this. For every success story, there were 20 more who never made the jump. They would receive the Word, but it would get choked out almost immediately. One day in prayer, it occured to me that we were doing insufficient discipleship and evangelism. We were offering a purely spiritual message. For some, this was enough. For others who were completely dependent upon the government or menial jobs, it was just words. The gospel transforms not just the spiritual realm of life, but also the social and economic realms as well. If someone was on government assistance or had dropped out of high school and could only hope to flip burgers at Burger King, then they had most likely developed a dependency mindset. They weren't taking ownership over any area of their lives. Why would I think that they would take ownership over their spiritual growth?

I began to see that true evangelism and discipleship had to touch on every area of life. We didn't need to only be having Bible studies on sin and redemption, but we also needed to show people how to balance their checkbook and develop skills. We needed to help mothers raise their children and help fathers be responsible. We needed to help create better workers and students who could then influence their domains for the gospel. Salvation was not to just be an escape from hell, but it was also to be an introduction to a full new life in every facet. I couldn't believe what I had been missing.

Well, fast forward a couple of years. So much has happened, including the birth of another child (who later developed cancer and is doing great, by the way), the resignation of our previous pastor, a year of interim, and my promotion to pastor, and a thousand other issues. We are finally about to step back into things that we started learning about a couple of years ago. Hopefully, CDI will be the vehicle for that into our community as it provides a neutral interface with government, business, and other non-profits and churches. India will be a part of that as we seek to do this globally as well as locally. As we go, I hope to be learning from people like Yunus, who have been doing this type of thing from another motivation for quite some time. Maybe God is allowing non-Christians to be sign posts for us to remind us what our lives are supposed to be about. Maybe we should pay closer attention to what is happening around us.

Next Week: A review of a paper by Dr. Thom Wolf given at Lucknow University in India called "Progress Prone vs. Progress Resistant Cultures."  His thesis is shocking, to say the least. Tune back in next week - hopefully, I will know my identity by then. :)    

Note: For obvious reasons, the language used in this post is neutral.

In 2004, I went to India. We flew into Delhi and then travelled north to Dehradun, the capital of Utteranchal state. We had an amazing time working with a children's home and travelling throughout the country. We met with many people who were doing incredible work there and we made a lot of contacts. Two weeks from today, I, along with two others will be returning to India. We will return to the same children's home (they actually have 6 throughout India) and will travel to several different hospitals. We are going to be doing advance work to set up a public health conference in the fall. We are also going to be looking into possibilities for microbanking initiatives that would help entrepeneurs with small business startups. This is all very informal on this trip and we are really just going to meet people, see what opportunities are available, and try to go from there. I expect for concrete things to come out of this trip, however, and for multiple platforms for future positive work to be developed. Your prayers for the development of positive relationships through our contacts, as well as for safety, would be much appreciated. There will be three of us travelling. The other two men going with me work in the fields of public health and finance. I'm just going to help set stuff up.

Here are some pictures from our last trip. The first two are from a slum in Delhi that we visited to tell The Story to. Can you see why we feel that public health is a major need? The next picture is from one of the Children's homes where we were telling The Story. Hindu kids were climbing on the roofs of the houses across the lane to see and hear us tell The Good News through interpreters. It was amazing. The last picture comes from a trip to Rishikesh, the third most holy city on Hindus on the Ganges River. This man was bathing for the purification for sins. There were quite a few people there that day in what was easily the most horrid place I have ever visited.

I've started a preaching series on the life and ministry of Jesus in the Gospels. On Sunday, I preached through The Sermon on the Mount. Yep, three chapters of Matthew in around 40 minutes. I wanted to look at this most incredible message from a big picture view, instead of breaking it apart into a million moralistic pieces. We often get hung up on certain aspects of this message and we make a new law out of it. Generally, we end up using this new law against others, instead of letting Jesus' powerful words do their work in our own hearts.

I remember when I first really came to the Lord in college and I read this message over and over again. At first, I set out to do it, thinking that I could just align myself with Jesus' words on Kingdom living. Poor in spirit? No problem! Meek? Merciful? Peacemaker? Sure, I can do that. No anger, lust, judgment, or revenge? Uh oh. Pray for my enemies? Give to those who abuse me? Go the extra mile? Turn the other cheek? Wait a minute! Do good for God alone instead of for credit before man? Look to heaven instead of worldly gain or fame? Don't worry about anything? Now, you've gone from preaching to meddling! I found that the harder I tried, the more I came up short. At one point, I felt like hurling the Bible across the room. "I can't do this, God!" Sometime later it dawned on me: That's exactly the point.

Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount to show the religious people and the self righteous ones that true Godly righteousness was a matter of the heart, not of outward performance. He said that their righteousness must surpass that of the pharisees. He said that our inner motives and thoughts mattered as much as our actions. He said that it wasn't enough to not do evil, but we had to do good, not just to our friends but to our enemies. The Sermon on the Mount is the greatest example of Jesus' call for a renovation of the inner life. In short, he described what Kingdom living looks like. We can see how much we've actually let Jesus take control of our lives by how closely we resemble what Jesus called us to in that message. You see, He doesn't call us to do this on our own. The life He describes is His life and only Jesus can live this message through us. "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20.

What if we all lived out this message? What if we made it our life's desire to have Jesus live through us in this way? How different we would all be! Think about how much arguing, strife, and dissension would go away! Think about how Christ would be glorified in us. We wouldn't have much trouble being salt and light, would we? The Sermon on the Mount is a description of the life that we cannot live on our own. It shows us why we need a Savior and why we must live by the Spirit with a new heart and mind. It describes the life that only Christ can live through us. May we read these words and fall on our face in humility and dependence upon the Lord.

How would our lives change if we took these words seriously? How would our families, churches, workplaces, and cities change? Our culture? Perhaps, living out and helping others live out these words is what Jesus meant when He told us to make disciples of NATIONS. But, it starts with us, doesn't it? If we can't take it seriously, then how can we expect others to?  

The obvious answer to that question is a resounding, "Yes!" and it is the person and work of Jesus Christ and His gospel. But, I am wondering if we will appeal to Him or our own pet doctrines and prejudices. Since my post the other day on relativism in the SBC, I have become more and more concerned that the IMB Trustees are leading us down a very dangerous path. I engaged in a debate yesterday on Bart Barber's blog on this issue. You can read my comments and the debate starting half way down on THIS POST. 

Here is my concern:  I feel that the leadership of the Conservative Resurgence has engaged in an abuse of power by going beyond their mandate to restore the SBC to a conservative biblical footing. We elected presidents and trustees to make sure that we, as a convention, held to the doctrine of inerrancy and a conservative biblical interpretation. They did that. But, we did not give them carte blanche authority to go beyond the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 in any way that they see fit. I've been told that the Boards of Trustees over each of our entities are autonomous and they can do what they like, doctrinally speaking. Basically, the only recourse we have is to elect new trustees. But, is there no governance or direction from the SBC to the trustees on how they are to proceed? Is our agreed upon confession of faith not sufficient as a measure of doctrinal accountability? If we are talking about removing missionaries and SBC employees it is sufficient. If we are talking about limiting the power of our trustees to make unilateral decisions regarding doctrinal parameters, it is not sufficient. I do not see how you can logically have it both ways, but that is where we find ourselves.

I have read arguments that bring up the fact that Southern Seminary uses the Abstracts as a governing theological document, in addition to the Baptist Faith & Message. While I would prefer that all of our seminaries use the BF&M as their doctrinal statement and stick to that, I can deal with a seminary going in a different direction (see SWBTS). I do not agree with it, but I can continue to cooperate with the SBC, even if that happens. You see, we have six seminaries and there is bound to be one that has a different slant theolgically and is more mainstream evangelical (see my alma mater, Golden Gate, for example). If you don't like SWBTS or Southern, then go to Golden Gate or New Orleans.

But, there is only ONE foreign missions sending agency of the SBC: The International Mission Board (IMB). If you are shut out by the actions of the Board of Trustees as they lead the IMB into becoming a rogue agency in the SBC, you have no alternatives. You are forced to either not participate in international missions, or you have to find another way. Those are the only two options left you by the IMB Board of Trustees. That is why it is so important that the IMB, of all of our agencies, stick strictly to the Baptist Faith and Message as our basis for cooperation. Even NAMB has more latitude here, because any U.S. church can engage in domestic missions easily by picking up the phone and contacting local churches, associations, and state conventions. Or, you can just move. Internationally, we are forced to go through the IMB. Therefore, closing the door through restrictive theological issues is even more dangerous.

So, what about the Cooperative Program? Last year in Greensboro, Southern Baptists overwhelmingly elected Frank Page as president of the SBC. They did this because, of the three candidates, his church supported the Cooperative Program most effectively. Many said that it was a referendum on the primacy of the Cooperative Program in Baptist life.

Question: Does statement #4 by the IMB BoT directly do damage to the future of the Cooperative Program? Why would churches give money to an organization (the IMB) that sets it's own doctrinal parameters and is unresponsive to calls to be consistent with our statement of faith, the BF&M, that they themselves have used as an instrument of doctrinal accountability in regard to their own missionaries? Does the IMB belong to the trustees or to the SBC? Of course, it should belong to the Lord, but I don't see where elected trustees should have the right to set limiting doctrinal positions that go beyond the statement of faith that has been approved by a majority of baptists. If they continue down this road, I do not see how churches who disagree with them on this MAJOR issue can continue to, in good conscience, give money to this organization. I say this with great sorrow because I have many friends who are IMB missionaries and they are doing GREAT work. But, if you cannot trust the theological direction of the organization, and if there is no ability to call them back to our agreed upon statement of faith, then I do not see how you can continue to travel together in regard to cooperation in missions.

I do not think that global missions belongs to parachurch organizations or missions sending agencies. Global missions is an assignment given by God to the local church and to each Christian. It is something that we are to be intimately involved with. We are not to just send our money and let others do it for us. We are to go and send ourselves. Southern Baptists have set up the IMB to assist the churches in doing just that. But, when they tell the churches that they know better what kind of missionaries can and should be sent, they no longer serve the churches in the task of global evangelization, but they expect the churches to serve them. They become the gatekeepers. I have no problem with that, especially in areas of expertise, as long as they are operating within the mandate that the churches give them, i.e., the BF&M. When they supersede that mandate and do not heed calls to return to our agreed upon basis, they are the ones who are choosing to walk in a different direction. They are the ones who are sowing disunity and bringing discord.

I firmly believe that the IMB Board of Trustees should recant in their adoption of the two new policies regarding private prayer language and baptism. Absent that, I fear that we are heading for a precipice where they will show that they choose to walk in a different direction from what was agreed upon by baptists. At that point, it is the IMB Board of Trustees that has left the fold, not the other way around. The problem is, they have taken our missionaries and sending apparatus with them. Cooperation will be a lost word, and the Cooperative Program will wither faster than our baptism numbers have fallen. We will continue to do missions, but many will not follow this new direction taken by the "trustees."

I pray that this day never comes. I pray that wisdom will prevail and the new policies will be rescinded. But, this is not some type of ultimatum to get my way. If God leads us to continue to support the IMB, even though I vehemently disagree with the actions of the BoT, then I will do so with great pleasure. It is God that we serve, not man, and He does direct us when we pray. So, we will see what happens. Again, this does not mean that everyone has to agree with my position on these tertiatry issues. I am just asking that there be room for both positions within the SBC, since that room has existed for years and both positions are strongly defended by conservative baptist scholars. I truly do pray that Jesus is glorified and that unity prevails. But, if a rupture occurs, it is not because we created it. It was created by the IMB BoT when they said that everyone had to agree with them, or they could not serve. I pray that they come to their senses and that our unity is restored in the person and work of Jesus Christ. 

My concern from the beginning of the controversy regarding the new IMB policies on baptism and private prayer language was that those policies would be unnecessarily restrictive and would discourage otherwise qualified candidates from applying for missionary service through the IMB. I know that at this present time, I would not recommend anyone from my church to serve as a missionary with the IMB until the climate changes.

Apparently, something has affected the number of missionary candidates that have been appointed by the IMB this year. There's no real way to say exactly what it is, but I would not be surprised if the new policies and the resulting controversy had something to do with it. Here is a passage from a Baptist Press article about the latest IMB Board of Trustee meeting (HT: Ben Cole):

In his report to trustees, IMB President Jerry Rankin appealed for a “new resolve” among Southern Baptists to counteract a slowdown in the growth of the international mission force -– especially in short-term missionary categories.

“I really believe what we have seen God doing in the first six years of this century exceeds even the previous decade in fulfilling the Great Commission,” Rankin said. “It’s evident God is using the volatile events around the world to turn the hearts of people to spiritual answers that only Jesus can provide. But whether or not people have an opportunity to hear, understand and respond to the [Gospel] is directly linked to the number of God’s people who will go in response to His call to engage in cross-cultural witness.”

IMB regional missionary leaders estimate a growth in the missionary force to 8,500 (from the current total of about 5,100) is needed to effectively touch the remaining unreached peoples of the world in partnership with overseas Baptists and other Great Commission groups.

“However, as we move into 2007 we see a disturbing trend,” Rankin said. “Appointments of new missionaries have plateaued, and the candidate pool is smaller than it has ever been in my tenure as president.

“Regrettably, we had to defer qualified missionaries being sent to the field in 2003 because Southern Baptists had not increased their giving commensurate with those being called out of our churches to go as missionaries. But churches got the message and in the last two years have responded with record levels of giving to the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. We were able to remove those restrictions and give priority to sending out career missionaries.

“In 2005, [trustees] approved a goal of sending out a thousand missionaries each year. I believe Southern Baptists are capable of sending out at least a thousand missionaries each year. They are stepping up to provide the financial support to make that happen. Money clearly follows missionaries, and as more and more are sent out, they represent more and more churches who then have a personalized identification with international missions.”

New IMB missionaries in 2006 numbered 758 -– 306 long-termers and 452 in short-term (two- or three-year) categories.

Rankin challenged Southern Baptists to send out 800 to 1,000 short-term personnel a year. Personnel serving short-term eventually will increase the number of long-term personnel. For each of the last eight years, one-third or more of all new long-term IMB missionaries have brought previous short-term experience.

“I am not suggesting loosening our qualifications,” Rankin said. “We must be sure our candidates are doctrinally sound, healthy in mind and body and adequately equipped by education and experience. But I am concerned that we must find ways to reverse the current trend by a renewed commitment to [communicate] that the International Mission Board is the agency of choice for Southern Baptist missionaries being called out of our churches.”

In his remarks, IMB trustee chairman John Floyd tearfully appealed to trustees to pray that God will send many new mission workers into the harvest.

“I’m asking you, are we praying?” Floyd said. “Is it a great enough need that we have missionaries going to the field and harvesters sent into the harvest that we will pray -– and I mean pray -– that we will cry out to a God who is able to supply what we ask? We need to find ways to enlist people, and we need to enlist them and challenge them. But oh, I beg you, let’s pray to the Lord of the harvest, and that way He will be the One who gets all the glory for bringing people to the field.”

We don't like to deal with cause and effect very much because it implies responsibility. We don't want to assume that God might be holding people back from going through the IMB, because that would dictate that one side is right and the other is wrong. But, despite what you might personally think about those statistics, the real reasons behind them are unknowable and given to speculation. I definitely think that we should NOT be presumptous and throw God's name around to defend one side over another. Truth doesn't work that way.

However, something is going on. Is it just a defecit in our churches? Laziness among the lay people? Sin in the pew? Lack of motivation? The Devil? What do you think it is? I've got a few ideas, but they don't really need to be stated right now.

Still, I believe that God is at work. He IS raising up people from every tribe, nation, people, and tongue. They are going forth all over the world to tell the Good News. God's Mission cannot be stopped by our lack of participation, arguing, and missing the point. The question is: Will we join Him?

Several years ago, I had the privilege of developing a relationship with Jay Lorenzen. He is the Associate National Director, Training and Development for Campus Crusade for Christ's Military Ministry.  He's also probably one of the sharpest missional minds in the Western Evangelical world. That is not hyperbole. He is a voracious reader with amazing ability to synthesize information into discernable applications and he is also an excellent teacher. I attended his Gettysburg Leadership Conference a few years ago where he takes a small group through the three days of the battle in real time, and with the Bible, applies leadership lessons for ministry. It's probably the best conference I've ever been to.

Jay also blogs at Onmovements.com, where he writes about what it takes to build a missional disciplemaking movement. Here is an excerpt (Update: This is actually a quote on Jay's blog that is taken from Eric Swanson, a friend of Jay's):

Lately I’ve been finding myself saying to others, “As difficult as it is to surf, it is far easier to catch a wave than to cause a wave.” My point is that we need to be aware of the big things God is doing in the world and get in on them.

God has a plan. Recently I was talking with Reggie McNeal (The Present Future). Reggie made this metaphoric observation.

“I doubt that God went to bed last night thinking about how many people you had in your church. Most likely he went to bed last night thinking about the two billion people that live on less than a dollar a day or the 30,000 people who died because they didn’t have clean water or about human traficking or the genocide in Africa.”

When God wants to act, if the church is not paying attention, he will raise up whom he will…who have his full attention to bring forth his agenda in the world. Sometimes it is a Cyrus or an Artexerses or Nebuchadnezzar. Sometimes it is a Bono, a Bill Gates, or Warren Buffet . . .

In the November 13, 2006 Newsweek, Michael Gerson writes “I’ve asked young evangelicals on campuses from Wheaton to Harvard, who they view as their model of Christian activism. Their answer is nearly unanimous: Bono.” (p. 40) A couple weeks ago I was with a bunch of Campus Crusade leaders who were working on establishing spiritual movements on every campus in the northeast region of the country (1/5 of all US college students).

Perhaps the wave that God is causing is what we should pay attention to. Instead of thinking how we can get Crusade staff to bring their students to a certain beach project we should be thinking how to mobilize all the student groups on one campus to go to Africa and sink 20 water wells. It’s not so much about wringing our hands, consuming ourselves about growing our campus groups from 60 to 80 (remember Reggie’s words) but how can catalyze the students on campus to change the world.

Last spring Crusade mobilized 15,000 students (believers and non-believers) to work on the gulf coast. These shoulder to shoulder relationships spawned a hundred thousand unlikely conversations about Jesus. This was our “proof of concept.” If Bono is universally admired by believers and unbelievers alike, why not show up on campus sporting (RED) gear, identifying like-minded people and planting (RED) groups or ONE groups or Bono groups or U2 groups on campus and mobilize students for a global agenda sponsored by local businesses?

Leaders can keep the spiritual agenda on the front burner and invite students to meet God through service to others (Matthew 25–”When you did it to the least you were doing it to me.”) It is then the job of believers to help their friends interpret what they are experiencing as they give themselves to people on the margin. There is a groundswell of students that want their lives to count for something. We can be a catalyst (like we did around Katrina) and give leadership to fulfill that desire for purpose. It is always better to be in the business of satisfying demand rather than trying to create demand. Students don’t want to be on the sidelines. They want a piece of the action.

Now, can you imagine movements everywhere on every campus where students are making a global, spiritual and material difference? Who wouldn’t want to be part of that?

Okay. Chew on that for a few minutes. Jay always challenges me to think differently about things, and after I listen to him for a few minutes expound on really complex concepts, what he is saying seems obvious to me and I wonder why I never thought of it myself. That is the mark of a great teacher. You should really begin reading him. Outstanding stuff.

Also, Alan Hirsch is fairly new to the blogosphere. Many have read his revolutionary book, The Shaping of Things to Come with Michael Frost. He now has a blog called, The Forgotten Ways. He has a book out by the same title. He is really insightful and asks some wonderful questions.

One recent post (A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins With a Single Question) on comparisons between the growth of the early church and the underground church in China has really gotten me thinking.  He asks how both churches grew so rapidly in such miserable conditions. I personally think that persecution and God's sovereign work were the primary factors, obviously. Many groups have experience persecution and did not grow. Many groups have experienced a visitation of God that petered out over time. But, when you combine God's presence, with persecution, and a people who have nothing but Him, spiritual explosions tend to take place. I don't think we are going to see the awakening that we long for in America until we fall on our face, cry out to the Lord, and throw off all the other things we are so dependent upon. We are so prideful and arrogant, we shut off the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and ministries. Prayer is obviously a key, but we spend far more time focusing on other things.

Track with Alan as he helps us understand how God is working around the world and how He can work in our lives as well.

The last thinker/leader I encourage you to check out today is Bob Roberts, founder of Glocalnet (global and local transformation). I met Bob at the Intersection Conference last year in Seattle, WA, put on by Global Spectrum.  He is the founding pastor of a truly Glocal church that has helped plant churches all over the world and is now involved in the discipling of nations. He has been connected with Thom Wolf/Carol Davis for years, so his thoughts are very familiar to me. Bob is interested in helping believers interact with what God is doing around the world through globalization. He teaches that believers should be leading innovators in the connection of the world and that the gospel is the transformative force to bring the change that people really want. More than a thinker, Roberts is a doer. Keep up with his travels and thoughts, and you'll be the better for it.

Well, Christmas is almost here. This will be my last post until after Christmas. I've got family coming in tomorrow and LOTS needs to be done to get ready and to finish up all of our Christmas preparations. My wife would not be happy to see me sitting on the computer while she does everything, so, this is it until next week. I'm also looking forward to our service on Sunday and our Christmas Eve Candlelight Communion Service (I love that!).  SOOO,  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 

We've been trying to make Christmas more spiritual and missional this year. Instead of just focusing on ourselves and receiving, we have tried to find ways to connect with neighbors and friends and serve them. Later this evening, my family and I are going into our neighborhood to deliver little goody packages with a scripture verse on them to all of our neighbors. We don't know the vast majority of them because everyone is so private. We thought this would be a great way to get to know them, pass on a blessing, and start to build some relationships. My wife and children spent the whole afternoon yesterday baking all types of cookies, brownies, fudge, etc., and they had a blast. Please pray for us as we do this. I am trying to teach my kids that Christmas is a great time to reach out to others and bless them, even if you don't know them. They're pretty excited about it.

Along those lines, a group from our church went Christmas Caroling on Wednesday night (see image on left - that was us! Yeah right!). This was the last event in our Time to Serve. We did not have our normal service, so around 40 of us went to the apartment complexes near our church and sang a few songs. Some folks came out to listen, but even though many people were home, people tended to not be very responsive, except for a few (including a Muslim family). I was kind of surprised. How often do you have Christmas Carolers show up near your house? I guess not often enough. We were walking back toward the church, and I was a little disappointed, honestly.

But, then I had a thought. We were walking on the street back toward the church and passed a restaurant/martini bar named Dabbo's. It occurred to me that they might let us come in and sing Christmas carols to their patrons (I'm thinking of an Irish Pub type of thing). I told the group to wait and I went and asked if they would have us. They said "sure!" and told us to come in. There was no one in the restaurant, but there were about 10 people in the bar area. It was a pretty nice place filled with an older crowd that was dressed nicely. We all crowded in (kids and all) and sang our Christmas carols and told them Merry Christmas. Many of the patrons sang along with us. We then gave out little flyers that had some of our church information on it with candy canes attached. In return, they gave us money! I rushed up and kept telling them "NO! Keep your money! We didn't come here for money! We're trying to bless you!" They insisted. They were so happy that we came in, they took up a collection for us and told us to use it for a good cause! It was spare cash they had in their pockets, but it ended up being $30! I went back to the church and assigned it to our benevolence fund. We regularly have people coming to the church and asking for food or gas, so those folks in the bar will help feed some folks in the coming weeks.

So, I thought that was pretty cool. It just shows me that God always has surprises for us when we step out in faith and incarnate the gospel. The Incarnation of Christ into a lost and hurting world has been my running theme this Christmas and I am so excited about what God has taught me. Our God is a missional God and He sent His Son cross culturally to our planet to bring us the Kingdom of God. We have so much to rejoice over and so much to tell people about.

Again, please pray for my family and I as we try and build relationships with our neighbors tonight. We're going to around 25 houses and are praying for friendships to develop with people that we only see in passing. We hope to follow this up with neighborhood get togethers as the year goes on, but everyone is so isolated and private, we thought Christmas would be a great time to break the ice.

I wish each of you a merry Christmas. So does my wife Erika, and my 4 children. Merry Christmas!!!

A few things I'm thinking about today as we start off another week . . .

Ernesto seems to be moving east toward Florida. I don't wish a hurricane on anyone, and my sister lives in Orlando, but I am very glad it is not projected to hit Louisiana-Mississippi. They truly can't take it. The tens of thousands of people living in FEMA trailers would again be homeless. I just pray that this hurricane season remains relatively quiet.  This week is the one year anniversary of Katrina and the memories are strong. I'm going to write a bit about my memories from last year. Even though I didn't go through it, we were down there four days later and my family went through it. It was a horrendous time and I want to get some thoughts down.

We had a great day at church yesterday. I preached on Philippians 3:17-4:1. Powerful passage. We talked about how Paul's example and pattern were the "way of life in Christ Jesus" (1 Cor. 4:16-17), and how that is so different from just moral behavior alone. Rather, it is finding your righteousness in Christ by faith and allowing Him to live through you and transform you. That leads to moral behavior, but Christ is always our starting and finish point. He is our guide and our goal. The message notes and audio will be up on Gatewaylife.net later this week.

I came across a great article today about the rise of Christianity in China, entitled The War for China's Soul (HT: Andrew Hicks). The article was in Time Magazine.  This is a truly fascinating article and I highly encourage everyone to check it out. It is saying that Christianity is gaining an incredible foothold in China and is transforming the society. Persecution is breaking out in places, but the Chinese leadership knows that it cannot stem the tide. It is becoming too strong. So, they are letting the house churches go as long as they are not too boisterous. Only in cases where the house churches become too bold are they cracking down, like in Hangzhou where the Christians had the nerve to build a church building. The soldiers came in and bulldozed the building and began to attack the believers:

Witnesses told TIME that at about 2:30 p.m., thousands of uniformed police and plainclothes security officers appeared at the construction site. The police cleared a way through the crowds for a few drill-equipped backhoes, and the authorities then demolished the church. Witnesses say police bludgeoned people indiscriminately with nightsticks. "They were picking up women--some of them old ladies--by their hair and swinging them around like dolls, then letting them crash to the ground," says a man who watched the clash from across the street. A statement faxed to TIME by the information office of the Xiaoshan district government describes the scene differently, claiming that about 100 Christians "attacked and injured government officials" and that although the police detained a few protesters, none were injured. But the volunteer interviewed by TIME produced receipts from the local hospital attesting to his treatment for broken ribs, which he says many others suffered as well. "They treated us like dead dogs," he says. "Some of them scoffed at us as we lay there, saying, 'Where is your God now? Why can't he help you? If you want to go to heaven, we'll help you get there right now.'"

I know that these stories are happening all over the world, but it seems that in China the faith is really spreading and taking root. The article goes on to say:

After four failed attempts over a millennium and a half by foreign missionaries to gain a foothold in China, Christianity is finally taking root and evolving into a truly Chinese religion. Estimates vary, but some experts say Christians make up 5% of China's population, or 65 million believers. And thousands more are converting every day, the vast majority through unofficial "house" churches like the one that sparked the clash in Hangzhou.

God is on the move in China. May we pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ as they develop Christianity into a "truly Chinese religion." We now live in a time where Christianity is global. God is moving all over the world. It doesn't look very American anymore and it is spreading like wildfire. Yes, there are problems as there are in America. But, we should embrace God's movement and encourage it wholeheartedly.  Praise God! Let this final excerpt be an encouragement to read the whole article:

In the long run, though, government attempts to circumscribe how people practice their faith seem unlikely to succeed--and could well spark more unrest. It's telling that even in the face of such crackdowns, some Chinese Christians say they are confident that they will eventually win the freedom to practice their faith as they choose. Brother Chow (not his real name) is one. He is every inch the model of the modern Chinese Christian, a preacher who doubles as a businessman. Despite his pressed jeans, polo shirt and fancy mobile phone, he professes to believe in a deep, ancient faith, one that he says has carried many a Christian through persecution. "Why don't I think it will be a problem? Because as time goes on, the government will get to know the Christian spirit and realize that God exists." He smiles with the secret knowledge of a true believer. "And then," he says, "they will become Christians too."

I've never done this before, but I was so encouraged by a comment that a reader left, I just had to make a post out of it. Bryan Riley just recently left his job with Tyson Foods as an attorney.  In his own words from his blog, Charisshalom (grace and peace - I like this guy!), he says this about why he left:

For some time God has been moving in our hearts, trying to gain our attention. For at least that same amount of time we weren't really letting myself have His attention. We had lots of things “to do.” We had one, then two, then three incredible kids. And, even before them, we had our marriage, our jobs, a dog, a house, and friends, and, well, “life.” But over the course of the last several years, God has been reawakening us to the fact that we had to let go of all the things we were claiming for ourselves and find our pleasure solely in Him. (For a great read and explanation of how God fulfills us, see John Piper's book Desiring God.)

Through good, bad, and ugly, God finally said, “enough.” I have better plans for you than any you could make up. So, it is with great fear, hopefully wisdom, I know folly, joy, tears, smiles, and love, that we are writing to you that we are leaping to a new life. I've left my job as an attorney for Tyson Foods, Inc. to prepare our family to serve as missionaries. Call it an early mid-life crisis if you want (i'm 35); I pray it is obedience.

I don’t think it is any accident that this happens in the middle of a year and right at the time we Americans begin celebrating our freedom. For the first time in years we suddenly feel more free than we have in a very long time. God has shown us how to line up our God-given passions with his purpose and plan for our lives.

We will begin training to serve as missionaries with Youth with a Mission (YWAM) on July 8th. Please check them out at http://www.ywam.org/, whether you know anything about them or not. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world--from Albania to Zimbabwe, Australia to the US, and Mexico to Madasgascar. This is our calling and desire and, at this time, we don’t know where all we will be taken, but we are ready to go.

Wow. What an encouragement. We really need to be praying for Bryan and his wife and children. I said that I wanted to make  a post out of his comment on my blog, though. It tells how God has blessed he and his family for his obedience, and was on my "Where Have You Seen God at Work" post of a couple of days ago:

"Blessed are the peacemakers . . . "

Christianity Today has an article about the human disaster happening in the Congo right now. Here's an excerpt:

Unless God says otherwise, this former Belgian colony in central Africa, the combined size of Alaska and Texas, is not the place to be.

The statistics are depressing. The country's 62 million people live with an infant mortality rate that is ten times higher than that of the U.S. Nearly 50 percent of the population is under age 16, and few will celebrate a 50th birthday. Ten years of war exacerbates the brevity of life. More than 3.9 million have died since 1996, when perpetual fighting first broke out. The conflict has drawn in 16 military and rebel forces from seven nations in central Africa. The largest UN peacekeeping force in the world (19,800 "blue helmets") is stationed in DRC. Fighting persists despite the 2003 peace accords and withdrawal of foreign troops.

"We live in fear," confesses Bayoba Biguge, a church leader in Bukavu, an eastern border city of 1 million. Rebel groups fight each other and the government over territory and the mining of diamonds, gold, and coltan (vital for manufacturing electronics). Illegal trade makes the conflict highly profitable. Coltan has sold for as much as $400 per kilogram.

Please be praying for peace and for the Christians in the Congo who are suffering under horrible conditions but are still trying to be faithful. Pray that God would put a stop to the violence and that light would shine in,  what Joseph Conrad called, "the Heart of Darkness."  May our hearts be moved to prayer and action.  May we not sit back and bicker and live our silly little lives while we do not even pray for those who are suffering so and entering an eternity of darkness.

Marty Duren has a post at SBC Outpost that got me thinking. I actually almost laughed out loud when I saw the first image and thought it was a joke.  But, then I realized that if we say that anything we do is for "missions and minstry," we can get away with it.  I wonder, with all our technology, support, staff, and strategy if we aren't seriously missing the point.  Well, I've actually thought that for years, but the juxtaposition of these images really brings it home:

Here's the USA Version of a Missions and Ministry Center

And, here's what it looks like in Africa:

Now, I know that is not a fair comparison, and that it would be impossible to have our staff offices and conference rooms in a thatch hut, but the point is, do we really need everything that we purchase for ourselves? Or, could we, as really wealthy Christians in America get by with a lot less? I think the answer is obvious.  I, for one, am really getting weary of funding multi-million dollar "missions and ministry buildings" while a large majority of the world's population gets by on less than a dollar a day.  At some point, we will be held accountable. 

What do you think?

WARNING:  THIS POST IS PRIMARILY FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN WORLD MISSIONS AND MINISTRY. I DO NOT want to spend much time on this, except to use it as a segue, but there are all kinds of problems continuing to brew in my denomination's world missions agency, the International Mission Board.  While great things are happening overseas, it seems that trustees here at home can't stop arguing about whether one person's view is going to prevail over another's. If you want to look into it more, you can follow it at my friend Marty Duren's blog, SBC Outpost.  I also had a previous couple of posts detailing the whole issue here, here, and here.

So, anyway, with all of these problems with denominational power structures, missions agencies, and people far away making decisions that many do not agree with (sounds like the government, doesn't it), why do we fool with all of this? I mean, why don't Christians in churches just network together and do the work that Christ has given us through missional networks and relationships instead of relying solely on a denomination? Why do we worry so much about what our denomination does or doesn't do? What keeps us from being obedient and just doing it, without waiting for others to get their act together? When we can work with the larger group, great, but otherwise, let's do what God has called us to do!

I have written a paper on how this can happen through Emerging Network Theory.  The basic point is that we all have relationships and networks.  What if we used them for the glory of God and we all started working together with people we already know, trust, and are in relationship with to be more effective in Kingdom work instead of depending primarily on a large denomination?  This is how we are reaching and serving hundreds of people on the Gulf Coast without help from our denomination at this point - through relational networks.  It is how any small group of people can begin working to change the world, without waiting for others to get their act together and do it for them.  Just some thoughts on this fair night . . .