God as Father Is Not One of 101 Islamic Names for God

"The Muslim faithful have 101 names for God. They are missing only one: Father! This is our treasure."

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, 2003 installation address in Rome. (www.opusdei.us/art.php?p=6908)

The Mission Invitation Is To Come Encounter Jesus

"All lives are changed that encounter Jesus the person. Evangelism is a Spirit-led encounter with the resurrected Christ. The same can be said of teaching, preaching, play, fellowship, sacraments, worship, justice, and all the other `church' activities. Unless we are pointing to Jesus, introducing and helping others to encounter this Word-made-Flesh who challenges our core assumptions, engages with us in unexpected ways, and turns our lives bottoms up, then we are not functioning as a church."

("So Beautiful". Leonard Sweet. David C. Cook Pub, 2009, pp 104)

Warning! Can Community Development Offer Ease & Comfort at the Expense of Relationships?

"South African pastor Fourie Vandenberg tells of leading a mission trip to the north of Namibia. The first thing the team noticed in the local kraal (Village) in which they were staying was that the women had to walk every day to a well with a huge heavy bucket on their heads to fetch water..
`We immediately decided to do something about it.'
Within two weeks flashy new water pipes were delivering water to every little hut in the kraal.
Within a week after the installation of the plumbing the villagers removed all the pipes and piled them politely on the out skits of the kraal.
When Fourie asked why they had plundered the plumbing and undone all their hard work, the Namibians explained that it is customary for the women to walk to a well with other women sharing their experiences about life. Carrying heavy buckets on the head while chatting with friends:`It's not a bad thing: it's a good thing.'
When the walk to the well was taken away and life was made `never so good,' life was really made ever so difficult."

(So Beautiful. Leonard Sweet, David C. Cook Pub, 2009, pp 102)

Often times I feel we have things to save us time, just so that we can crazily run after other things, things that just don't matter much.

Relationally we end up cutting ourselves off from one another. For example; eating a meal together in many cultures, and throughout history, was/is a deep meaningful event. It communicates unity, acceptance, shared journey, relationship. Now we view eating as something to get out of the way quickly, so we can run off and do something "productive". We take both hands and shove a sandwich in, wash it down with some coffee, and run.

We have lost the spiritual importance of feeding our body, the temple of the Holy Spirit, and inviting others into proximity with this temple, by sharing a relaxed meal around a table in conversation.
Relationship always trumps stuff.
Relationship always trumps lists.
Relationship always trumps production.
Well at least in a dream world.

Oh How I miss the relational elements of Africa some days.

The "Missing Link" for the "People" of South Sea Islands

In 1833 Charles Darwin went to the South Sea Islands looking for the so- called "missing link." As he studied the cannibals who lived there, he concluded that no creatures anywhere were more primitive, and he was convinced that nothing on earth could possibly lift them to a higher level. He thought he had indeed found a lower less developed Level of humanity. That would fit his theory of I evolution.

Thirty-four years later Darwin returned to the same islands. To his amazement he , discovered churches, schools, and homes occupied by some of those former cannibals. In fact, …..Many frequently gathered to sing hymns.

The reason was soon learned: Missionary John G. Paton had been there proclaiming the truths of Salvation! Darwin was so moved by their transformation that he made a generous contribution to the London Missionary Society. Darwin's "missing link" thus remained missing. -Henry G. Bosch

Is the Devil Ignoring You?

"I believe hat the enemy divides all people into two categories; those
he can ignore and those he has to fight. I want to be one of those that
he has to fight."

(Robert Logan & Tom Clegg. "Releasing Your Church's Potential" regal 1997, pp 4-12)

Gandhi &The Power of the Scriptures

"You Christians look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilization to pieces, turn the world upside down, and bring peace to a battle-torn planet. But you treat it as though it is nothing more
than a piece of good literature."

(Mohandas Gandhi)

Missions Is Deeper than "Going"

Most people tend to think that missions is all about getting people to the field. This is an important part of the picture, and we do work vigorously to mobilize people to go. But the vital thing is to be doing the most strategic work in the smartest way possible. You can work very hard to get a lot of people to climb a ladder only to find that it is leaning against the wrong wall. The Cause of Christ needs good information and good strategies in order to succeed.

(Rick Wood, Mission Frontiers. March-April 2009, pp4)