The Backside of the Superbowl & the front end of the Gospel

Something To Think About Opportunities:

I'll be watching the big football game on Monday morning.  I just mixed up a batch of muffins for Superbowl breakfast and I’m waiting for some friends to come over.  When I mentioned online that I’d be watching the game this morning, one friend mentioned that I should avoid looking at Facebook, so I wouldn’t see the game’s outcome before I watch it.   No need, the game is live on Monday morning on this side of the globe. It is one of those reminders of how big, and small our world is, all at the same time.  Just this morning I read a note from a friend and colleague who is headed to Germany.  Yesterday I listened to a young man from Germany preach here in Palau.  Oddly I, a guy who only speaks English, preached in the Palauan service while my Deutsche friend spoke in the English service.  The unprecedented ability to circle the world that globalization brings, gives us opportunities never seen before in the history of the world. Well, maybe. In God’s providence, three hundred years before Christ was born, Alexanderconquered the Mediterranean world, and beyond.  Because of him from Spain to well into the Middle East, from Africa to Southern Europe, people understood—many spoke—Greek.  The Romans had established a system of roads unlike anything the world had seen before, or would see again for more than a thousand years, and they established a reign of peace that was likewise unprecedented.  By the time the last Apostle, John had died, the Gospel had penetrated Africa, all of the Mediterranean nations, as far east as India, and some say as far north as England.    We are still profiting from the incredible effort of that first hundred years. In the First Century of the Third Millennium we have opportunities that are greater than any since that first explosive hundred years.  I’ll enjoy the Superbowl with my friends, but as I, in Palau, watched soldiers standing at attention in Afghanistan, and heard fans in California cheer for them, I ask myself, what are we, the prosperous, wired and frequently flying body of Christ doing with what God, in His providence, has given us.   It’s STTA.

An Army of Volunteers at Work:

I have the privilege of serving the Lord in a really great church.  One example of CBC's heart for ministry is this morning twenty-five CBC-ers are waking up in Schroon Lake New York.  Though the Adirondacks are a beautiful place to take a vacation, these folk aren't there to relax.  They are investing a week of their lives in the ministry of Word of Life.  WoL operates Bible Camps, a College level Bible Institute, and assists churches around the world in reaching and discipling young people.  I'm looking forward to hearing reports on what this crew accomplishes. The fact is, though, these people aren't the only ones from my church who are on mission.  I've got a day full of appointments, including one to encourage an old friend with serious health needs.  A number have already started their work day.  As I type kids are on the bus headed for school.  There are neighbors we need to reach out to, kids who need a mentor, folk everywhere crying out for someone to love them, opportunities to show the love of Christ in practical ways. Matthew 28:19 says the followers of Christ are to go and make disciples.  We tend to emphasize the "Go."  Really the going is kind of assumed.  Wherever you go be in the disciple making business.  Live deliberately in such a way that you point others to Christ. Wherever "here" is for you, for me, there is work to be done for the Lord.  I'm looking forward to hearing about how the Lord uses my church family wherever we are. It's Something to Think About.

Sacrifice IV

Over my four decades of ministry I have worked with missionaries who have gone to places in the world, or to particular people groups, where, or among whom, the need is very great.  Those missionary ventures were made possible because of the generous support of others who were used of God to support those efforts. In the First Century Church the Apostle Paul was in the role of taking the Good News about Jesus "where the name of Christ has never been heard" (Romans 15:20).  His ability to do that was enhanced by churches like the the gathering of believers at Philippi who "shared with [him] in the matter of giving and receiving. . . [and] sent a gift more than once for [Paul's] needs" (Philippians 4:15-16). Is it a good thing for churches and individuals to share in helping those who go to be able to go where the need is great? Without any doubt.  In fact we probably don't know fully realize just how good a thing it is.  Here is what the Apostle Paul says about the generous giving of the Philippian church, and I think it is true about those today who support the spread of the Gospel, if they do so with a right attitude. He said that what they had sent was "a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God" (Philippians 4:18). Did you get that?  The Great Apostle says that when we support God's work of spreading the Gospel we offer a worshipful sacrifice to the Lord.  It is another way that we offer "spiritual sacrifices" to God. It's Something to Think About.

The reached become the reachers to the unreached:

A couple of days ago I told you about some new friends I met.  If you missed it click here.  (I know I was supposed to get back to you yesterday, but you know . . .) It was my privilege to meet representatives from GIDI, The Evangelical Church of Indonesia, while I was in Palau.  The Palauan Evengelical Church was celebrating the 85th Anniversary of the Gospel coming to their Islands.  The Evangelical Church of Indonesia is just over 50 years old.  You can read a bit of the history here.  (At left the two groups meet to sign the mission agreement.) Both groups have a commendable zeal for sharing the Good News about Jesus with others who have not heard.  Palau is a tiny nation, about 20,000 in population.  Indonesia is a Muslim country.  In both places the church is new, and still has internal issues to sort out.  Yet, these are people who take seriously the Great commission to make disciples of all nations.  The two groups are partnering to reach out to the unreached on the Island Papua, (New Guinea) Indonesia. Even newer is a church among an even smaller, younger people group.  My friends and associates Doug and Dorcas Williams have been instruments in God's hands to reach out to the Awa, a tribe that lives in the Highlands of Ecuador.  I have met Paulino and Milton, the Elders of the church there.  Both of them are first generation Christians.  In a few weeks they will be leading the Awa for the first time, ever, without any assistance from missionaries.  (At right is a group of Awa children at one of the meeting places of the Awa church.)  They have already been taking steps to reach out to Awa communities where the Gospel has not yet been taught. So, what am I doing with the opportunities God has given me? It's Something to Think About.   To find out more about CBC at our website. God's Story in His Own Words. a message composed of nothing but Scripture that presents the flow of Divine Revelation from "In the beginning," to the final "Amen." You can find the most relevant message of all time here.

Something To Think About Change, 7/15

From 1968-1971 I was a student at Appalachian Bible Institute.  While there I was a part of what we called "Prayer Bands."  P. B. were gatherings of students who met for the purpose of praying for missionary efforts around the world.  I was involved in group that prayed for the work of the Lord on the Island of New Guinea.  Today the Island is divided in half.  The Western half is part of Indonesia and is known as Papua.  The Eastern half is the independent nation of Papua New Guinea.    The region is incredibly rugged.  Though essentially on the equator it has mountains high enough that they are perpetually covered in snow.  The peaks and valleys have kept people isolated for centuries.  Hundreds of different tribes with hundreds of different languages populate the landscape. Some of the missionaries for whom we prayed in P. B. were the 20th Century equivalent of David Livingston.  The story of one of those pioneers is memorialized in the movie Peace Child.  I never met Richardson, but I did know another missionary who hiked into the rugged country carrying the Good News.  In fact before I came to Covington VA, the Covington Bible Church took an offering to purchase hiking boots for Austin Lockhart.  He was the first white man that many of the villagers he met had ever seen.  Two names that came up in our discussions about the needs and dangers there, were Stan Dale and Phil Masters.  The two were killed taking the word of Christ to the region. Last month it was my privilege, to meet some enthusiastic followers of Christ from Papua.  A couple of them speak English, so I was able to talk to them.  It was an awesome experience. I'll tell you more tomorrow, but here is a group of people who have gone from killing missionaries to being missionaries within my lifetime.  It is a radical transformation.  It's the kind of thing God specializes in.  I once heard a definition of a missionary.  "A missionary is someone who goes to a place where people don't want him to come, and stays until they don't want him to leave." Stay tuned. It's Something to Think About.   To find out more about CBC at our website. God's Story in His Own Words. a message composed of nothing but Scripture that presents the flow of Divine Revelation from "In the beginning," to the final "Amen." You can find the Good News that changed these people's lives here.

What the World Needs:

Something To Think About, What the World Needs: 2/28

It's doesn't take a news junkie to see that the world is in a mess.  Words like genocide, refugee, militants, and mass-starvation have become way too familiar over the past few years.  Cities on fire, angry mobs in streets, and children with blank faces and emaciated bodies have become way too common as images that daily assault us.   Luke is a historian.  When we read his gospel and his history of the early church we get some idea of the world in which the Good News about Jesus first made an impression.  It was a world where on one occasion the disciples told Jesus about some  Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.  (Luke 13:1)  When you read some of the central chapters of Acts you can see the lines of refugees leaving Jerusalem, persecuted for their faith.     “Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” (Acts 9:1–2)  Luke's friend Peter writes about the struggles of these displaced persons, the victims of religious cleansing, working hard to make a new life in a new place.  Peter addresses them as "Those who reside as aliens." The Roman Empire of 2,000 years ago was not unlike our world today. If we could back to that world we would observe many needs:  People needed housing, food, medical care, and education--again very much like our world. You can't spend much time in the New Testament, though, without coming to the clear understanding that above all those things, and, in many ways, as that which would lead to a solution for those problems, people needed the Lord. They still do. I'm not saying we shouldn't seek to feed the hungry and house the homeless. We should--especially when those in need are helpless children.  What I am saying is we need to make sure we don't neglect what is most important. This bad news world needs to hear THE GOOD NEWS!   It's STTA. Explore this Good News here.

I mentioned yesterday that I spent the weekend with some veteran missionaries.  Our Missions Conference also included input from a young family who just finished their first couple of years in another culture.  Interaction with both families reinforced something I observe--as missionaries get deeper into the culture of others, they find that in spite of all the language, clothing, food, and lifestyle differences, at the bottom people are the same. Where mere outsiders see fascinating cultural oddities, and beauty; those who take time to learn the culture of another people-group discover that the culture of others, like our own, has two sides.  Both our way and their way of seeing the world and living in it, is a product  of God's image in man, thus cultures have elements of beauty, virtue, family love, and truth.  All cultures, however, are also made up of fallen people, thus our cultures include attempts to control our environment for our own selfish desires.  They are rife with greed, oppression, and all kinds of other evils.  Good missionaries know that "my" task is not to impose my culture on others. Rather it is to humbly point out that the word of God, and the God of the word, confronts all cultures--"all have sinned."  As people come to realize this and begin the lifelong process of Spiritual transformation, they begin to transform their culture from within.  The conscientious missionary does not want the culture of others to become like his/her own.  Rather she/he passionately desires that all cultures would be shaped by God's truth. That's a task in which we should all be interested. It's STTA.

Doesn't Jesus Die Every Year?

(Today's STTA was written by a missionary friend. It is a great Good Friday Meditation.)

"Doesn't Jesus die every year on good Friday?"
It was one of those teachable moments.
After sharing a short devotion before literacy class from Hebrews 10:12, we had gotten into an interesting discussion about things the [people my friend works with] do over Easter weekend. Some of the beliefs are quite strange (like not eating chicken because it turns into buzzard meat, or abstaining from alcohol until Sunday morning at 3:00 AM. Then you are supposed to drink and drink a lot.). I had wanted to get more
information about these ideas for some colleagues who are teaching about animism. After recording what was said, I kind of figured we were done with it, and forgot about it until the next day. Then the next morning we were about to start class when I remembered I had neglected to get a devotion ready for class.
"Oh well, repetition never hurts" I thought as I quickly flipped through my Bible to Romans 6:10 and shared once more how that Jesus only had to die once for all time, and that now he lives forever to God. As soon as I was done reading, it was then that one of my friends from the tribe asked his question. What a joy it was to be able to read the Scripture again, and then read from Hebrews 10:12 again as well and tell him that without a doubt, Jesus only died once. He was buried, and arose from the grave, never to die again. His work of paying for our sins was done, and it was ONCE AND FOR ALL.
On hearing the news, my friend nodded and said, "I'm glad you told us 'more straight.' I had believed wrong because that's what what my grandparents had always told me."
In spite of knowing the Lord for a number of years, Good Friday was still a blind spot for this man.
But then I asked myself, "What kind of blind spots do we have about all that Jesus has done for us?" Maybe our biggest one is just not thinking much about it. Did you thank Him for it today?

With thanks to my friend, and Praise to God for the gift of His Son . . .

It's STTA.