Beautiful Woman!

Africa Proverb: "He, who marries a woman only for her beauty, has ignored a major part of what makes a woman."

Why are So Few On My Road?

African Proverb: "When a road is good, it is used a second time."

Why People Who Care Are Sick Of Going To Church And Seeking more Authentic Expressions of Christian Community!

In a recent study, the Barna Group identified six major themes, regarding the church and Christianity in America, in 2010:

1. The Christian Church is becoming less theologically literate.

2. Christians are becoming more ingrown and less outreach-oriented. With the advent of social networking technologies Christians are strangely enough becoming more tribal and connected-into than connected-out.

3. Growing numbers of people are less interested in spiritual principles and more desirous of learning pragmatic solutions for life. I theorize this is the Xer effect.

4. Among Christians, interest in participating in community action is escalating.

5. The postmodern insistence on tolerance is winning over the Christian Church.

6. The influence of Christianity on culture and individual lives is largely invisible.

True!

"A true friend is someone who sees the pain in your eyes while everyone else believes the fake smile."

Whoever Invented Christmas Should Be Shot!

I read a story of a woman who was out Christmas shopping with her two children. After many hours, looking at row after row of toys and everything else imaginable. And after hours of hearing both of her children asking for everything they saw on the shelves, she finally made it to the elevator with her two kids. Exhausted and a it short tempered about the whole experience.

Finally the elevator doors opened and there was already a crowd in the car. She pushed her way into the elevator and dragged her two kids in with her and all the bags of stuff. When the doors closed she couldn't take it anymore and stated, "Whoever started this whole Christmas thing should be found, strung up and shot."

From the back of the elevator everyone heard a quiet calm voice respond, "Don't worry we already crucified Him."

For the rest of the trip down the elevator it was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

It's Probably True!

If we think as foreigner, in another land, among a new people, that we are not sometimes the product of a joke.... Let me tell you about......

More African Wisdom!

"Stories can be either bacteria or light; they can infect a system, or illuminate a world....to poison a nation, poison it's stories. A demoralized nation tells demoralized stories to itself." Ben Okri of Nigeria

African Proverb: "Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped."

African Proverb:"No one can corrupt you unless you are corrupt," (ewe proverb from Ghana)

African Proverb: "MAN CAME TO THE WORLD TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION BUT NOT TO COMPLETE EVERYTHING."

West African Irrigation Overview! Click to read!

African Wisdom!

African Proverbs

"Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped."

"No one can corrupt you unless you are corrupt," (Ewe proverb from Ghana)

NewsPaper Interview With Journal Pioneer For Man of Peace Development

Canadian Registered Non-Profit Charity: Make a Tax Deductable Secure Online Donation www.manofpeacedevelopment.org

Link to Article: Kildare couple bring irrigation to Mali (Link)
http://www.journalpioneer.com/News/Local/1969-12-31/article-2052906/Kildare-couple-bring-irrigation-to-Mali/1
Picture:

Wild Oats!

A statement made to me yesterday by an Auto Repair Guy.
"My wife dated me for 8 years before she married me. At one point during our dating she asked me if i had sown all my wild oats yet. I told her I did sow all my wild oats, but I was still working on the other grains."

So are all world views conducive to good marriage? ;-)

Why Go?

Good Insight!

"The trip was going to cost me around three thousand dollars. It wasn't easy to travel into Sudan since they were still at war, and we would have to charter a plane and spend a few extra days to make that happen. I remember one dear lady in the church coming up to me and asking, "Why don't you just send the three thousand dollars to the people in Sudan? Wouldn't that be a better use of money than your spending a week and a half with them? Think of how far that money could go." I wrestled with that question. Was I wasting these funds in order to go when I could simply give the money instead? Should I even be going? I continued wrestling with that question until I got to Sudan. There I had a conversation with Andrew that shed some light on the question.
Andrew was sharing with me about his life in Sudan over the last twenty years. He had known war since he was born, and he described facets of the suffering and persecution his people had been through. He told me about the various groups, most of them secular or government organizations, who had brought supplies to them during that time, and he expressed thanks for the generosity of so many people.
But then he looked at me and asked, "Even in light of all these things that people have given us, do you want to know how you can tell who a true brother is?"
I leaned forward and asked, "How?"
He responded, "A true brother comes to be with you in your time of need." Then he looked me in the eye and said, "David, you are a true brother. Thank you for coming to be with us."
Tears welled up in my eyes as the reality of the gospel hit home with me in an entirely new way. I was immediately reminded that when God chose to bring salvation to you and me, he did not send gold or silver, cash or check. He sent himself--the Son. I was convicted for even considering that ! should give money instead of actually coming to Sudan.
How will ! ever show the gospel to the world if all ! send is my money? Was I really so shallow as to think that my money is the answer to the needs in the world?"

Richly Ignorant in Affluence

If we make only ten thousand dollars a year, we are wealthier than 84 percent of the world, and if we make fifty thousand dollars a year, we are wealthier than 99 percent of the world.

Eaten by Worms

"John Paton (1824-1907) is relatively unknown among Christians today. He served for ten years as the pastor of a growing Scottish church, but God began to burden his heart for the New Hebrides, a group of Pacific islands filled with cannibalistic peoples and no knowledge of the gospel.
He set his heart on one island in particular. Twenty years earlier two missionaries had gone to that island.
They were killed and cannibalized. So it was no surprise that many dissuaded Paton from even the thought of following in these missionaries' footsteps. Paton wrote, "Amongst many who sought to deter me, was one dear old Christian gentleman, whose crowning argument always was, 'The Cannibals! you will be eaten by Cannibals!'" John Paton replied to this man, "Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can hut live and die serving and honouring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by Cannibals or by worms; and in the Great Day my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer." The old man left the room, exclaiming, "After that I have nothing more to say!"

At the age of thirty-three, John Paton traveled to the New Hebrides with his wife. The journey was not easy. His wife and newborn child died within months after arriving, and he found himself alone, digging their graves with his bare hands. He faced threat after threat upon his life. But in the years to come, countless cannibals across the New Hebrides came to know the peace of Christ, and the church across Australia, Scotland, and the Western world was challenged to rise up and make the gospel known among the peoples who are toughest to reach."
(Radical. David Platt)

African Time!

African Proverb: "The mud always settles, it simply takes time."

My Africa! Enjoy, It's Worth Watching

What is Church "For" Anyway?

Amazing thing to consider is that the term "worship Service" is never used, or alluded to in the NT. Why is this? Worship was never seen as an "event", that begins at a certain time or in a certain place in the NT.
The word worship is never used in that boxed in kind of way in the NT. To say we have a "worship service" would imply worship has a start time, and a stop time, or that worship is restricted to certain places or certain size gatherings. All of which is very errant theology.

Worship was seen as all of life lived out in Jesus. What people do on Sunday, in a gathering, is no more "worship" than what is done on tuesday.

Worship is not merely singing songs, praying, gathering together on Sunday. Certainly worship occurs there too, but only there. Worship never has a start or ending time - It's "all of our lifes" activities lived for the glory of God. This is how the word "Worship" is used in the NT. Go have a look.

See, singing, praying, scripture reading, or assembling at "Church", has a start & end time. Worship does not! The only time worship & Service are ever used in the same sentence is in Romans 12:1-2, where it tells us that worship is giving our bodies as a living sacrifice, this is our "Spiritual" or "Reasonable", ...... worship. Anything less is not spiritual nor reasonable.
I have heard so many very poor sermons on this passage.

Church gatherings are for, and about raising up, living breathing missionaries. People living for the glory of God "all night long, all night" .....and all day too!

This, and nothing less, is worship! Don't make Sunday into something it is not in the NT! Gathering together as the church, around things like Acts 2:42, is not optional. However, it's not "for" worship, it's an extension of our worship.

"The second thing that might be a switch is that when people are bent on mission first, the gathering takes on different purposes. We have found that when the primary values are outward mission and incarnational life, the gathering becomes more about connecting people, corporate storytelling, vision casting, and celebration. In settings where the church service is the main thing, Bible teaching, singing, prayer, and ministry to people becomes the priority. We prefer that Bible teaching, prayer, study, and ministry to people happen primarily in our communities during the week.............

We’re not anti-gathering; we just don’t care how many people gather, or when, or for how long. We don’t think smaller gatherings are better than larger gatherings. Our main focus is on why we gather and the meaning that is brought into our gathering due to our common story away from the gathering. This is why we encourage church planters not to start the church by launching a church service.

Instead, we advocate that they launch people and add the gatherings as needed.
For an existing congregation, the challenge is to sensitively “not provide” things at the gathering that you want people to experience out in the world and slowly reestablish the meaning behind the weekly church service. Maybe, it shouldn't even be called a “service.” That communicates, “You come here to get what you need.”

Please hear what we’re saying. We believe there is something very important about bringing people together........The key is to not let your gathering be more than it is supposed to be, nor to let people depend on the gathering for things it wasn't supposed to provide in the first place."
(Tangible Kingdom. Hugh Halter, pg 169. 2008, Jossey-Bass)

Stop Focusing on Church Growth! Start Raising Members to Be Missional!

Really, which comes first? If people actually lived like missionaries to their community, culture, friends, country, church growth could not be stopped. Most pew sitters have been in spectator church for so long they think that is all they are called to. They don't even know they are suppose to approach the world like "missionaries". Would shock them too!

"I was driving the other day and heard an announcer on a national radio station say, “Remember, all Christians should he in church this Sunday?" When I heard it, I found myself bristling with anger. As I pondered my reaction I realized that we still think that’s the end game for people. That is, if we just get people to church, everything else will take care of itself. Why did they have to challenge people to go? Why did I rarely want to go as I was growing up? It’s an easy answer. The problem with church has been that we communicate that God is up in heaven, monitoring his cosmic seating chart, and he really wants our church buildings full.
That’s just not true.

Church gatherings were never the intended goal they were the natural result of people finding others who were living their alternative Kingdom story. The goal of our missional life is not to grow churches. The goal of the church is to grow missionaries. The goal of the Gospel is not to get to church. The result of the gospel is that people will find each other and gather because of the deep meaning of a common experience."

(Tangible Kingdom. Hugh Halter, pg 167-168 2008, Jossey-Bass)

The Church Vote!

Majority rules, right?
I have discovered in the last 10 years that I find I don't want to walk with the majority sitting in the pew. This is not because I have trouble loving them, I do. It's not because I harbor some unresolved ill feelings toward them.
It's simply because can not walk in the same direction of their gaze.
Some are not walking in any direction at all. Immobile! Seeminly immovable too!

I thought this was amazingly true in my experience. This is a worth while devotion book to get.

"Not surprisingly, this tendency to focus on the goal to the exclusion of the process is often reflected in our churches as well. For example, I suspect that our view of time and productivity affects the ways decision-making is carried out in many churches. There is a clear difference between operating by consensus and by majority vote: although the latter promises more productivity choosing to operate in this manner only makes sense if one has already determined that the final outcome of a decision is more important than the process. Furthermore, there seems to be little incentive for the majority to listen patiently to the concerns and objections of the minority if the former is certain that they have the necessary votes to impose their will. But what if God cares about not only the decision (and what results from it) but also the kind of people we become in the process? Operating by majority rule in the name of productivity and efficiency also assumes (wrongly I suspect) that God normally votes with the majority. It seems hard to account for why Israel needed the prophets, or for the lack of democracy displayed when the twelve spies returned from their trip to Canaan (Num 13—14), if one assumes that the best way to determine God’s desires is simply to tab a vote."

(Life On The Vine: Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit in Christian Community. Phillip D. Kenneson IVP, 1999, pg 123)

Gritty Christianity!

This is so where I have been since Africa in 1995. Africa teaches one that community, relationships, are paramount. I've sought to also bring this home, and inject it into my spiritual life here, because it's a more biblical, and healthy way of doing life I think.

I'll be honest, traditional ministry, and the expectations of "What ministers do" just about choked any opportunity for me to live and grow into this while in "pulpit ministry here. That may very well be unique to my experience.

However, this is the direction I'm going, and I am extremely excited to be heading in this direction. The ministry journey is much more "gritty", as I get down into the lives of people, right out there in the market place of life. But it's given me more joy to be on the frontier were people "believe" different things. But I get to share Jesus too! It's where mission is lived out. Can't accomplish much relationally with people in an office all week. This journey has given significantly greater opportunity to touch and love people, in his name.

"......our new post-everything context is going to require that we belong with people as dear friends for quite a while before they’ll feel comfortable belonging with us. Our posture of how we communicate to them—that we are on their side and advocating for them—is how we enter their world. Instead of drawing a line in the sand and imploring them to “get right with God or get left behind,” we step across from our religious side into their all-too real world and ask how we can help. This too, can be done with or without words. Instead of picketing abortion clinics, we re-posture by taking the girls into our homes and lives and loving them and their children. Instead of putting another slick saying on our church billboard, we commit two years to getting to know someone. Instead of advertising our faith as superior to other faiths, we serve those with other faiths."

(Tangible Kingdom. Hugh Halter, pg 42, 43. 2008, Jossey-Bass)

The Power of Storytelling

"Stories can be either bacteria or light; they can infect a system, or illuminate a world....to poison a nation, poison it's stories. A demoralized nation tells demoralized stories to itself."
Ben Okri of Nigeria

(Telling God's Stories With Power: Biblical Storytelling in Oral Cultures. Paul Koehler. 2010, William Carey library pg 50)

Is Jesus & His Word Enough?

We western people insist we need the stuff.

"Despite its size, sixty believers have crammed into it. They are all ages, from precious little girls to seventyyear-old men. They are sitting either on the floor or on small stools, lined shoulder to shoulder, huddled together with their Bibles in their laps. The roof is low, and one light bulb dangles from the middle of the ceiling as the sole source of illumination.
No sound system.
No band.
No guitar.
No entertainment.
No cushioned chairs.
No heated or air-conditioned building.

Nothing but the people of God and the Word of God.
And strangely, that's enough.
God's Word is enough for millions of believers who gather in house churches just like this one. His Word is enough for millions of other believers who huddle in African jungles, South American rain forests, and Middle Eastern cities.
But is his Word enough for us?
This is the question that often haunts me when I stand before a crowd of thousands of people in the church I pastor. What if we take away the cool music and the cushioned chairs? What if the screens are gone and the stage is no longer decorated? What if the air conditioning is off and the comforts are removed? Would his Word still be enough for his people to come together? At Brook Hills we decided to try to answer this question. We actually stripped away the"

("Radical", David Platt, line
398 Kindle)

Leadership Style!

Illustration: If you came to an intersection and saw three people holding an AK 47 with the road blocked with old tires, and a big spike belt across the road, how would you feel? This happened to Lynn and I our first day in Cote D’Ivoire West Africa. We pulled up to a place where the road was all blocked off with huge tires and logs, with a spike belt across the road, and a half dozen burly men holding ak47 and various machine guns. They stopped everything and only moved the spike belt to let through who they wanted. They severely hassled many people too and make them sit there for hours, sometimes even days. It’s frustrating to be held up like that too. Sitting there waiting and waiting doing nothing, accomplishing nothing. Getting no closer to our destination, going no further on the journey.

However, have you ever come to an intersection with a traffic Director? Does That intimidate you? Not really? They are good, they keep the traffic flowing very well. If there is a bottle neck they will temporarily stop one direction to ease the congestion in another, but they son have you going again because the traffic director get things going smoothly again. They don’t examine every car so we might think the director is not paying attention. However, if we try to do something that stops the flow – Up comes the finger pointed at you. They will soon let you know that this is not permitted wise, or acceptable action. But they keep the flow going.

Some leaders are like the soldiers with the AK47 and spike belt. They see their job as to stop everything and then, only after sever scrutiny they let through those who seem to be ok, but it seems grudgingly done. Many others are keep back and hassled, keeping them immobile for long periods of time. They are stalling, frustrating their journey, and no closer to their destination.

Others Leaders are like the traffic director. They allow things to move and redirect the flow so as to optimize movement of the traffic. They will give is direction, They will wave their hands in a circle swiftly to tell us speed up, speed up, Our a patting motion to advise slowing down and be more cautious. They may even give us that corrective pointy Index finger pointed just as us, but their God is to help us all keep moving.

WHere I work

View Man Of Peace Development Andy & Lynn in a larger map

Church Planting Differences?

"While it is safer to plant a church in the West, it may actually be simpler to plant one in Iran. Go to a church planters' conference in North America, and you will hear about budgets, programs, marketing campaigns, and the need for a good worship set. Attend a conference for Iranians, and you get a different picture. They'll talk about starting by sharing Christ with friends and family, gathering new believers for a weekly Bible teaching and fellowship, and then encouraging and praying with them to go and share with their friends and family."(Elam Ministries, Issue 2, 2010)

Having experienced both sides of the conversation, here is the principle difference.

Church in North America Conversation - Centered around MEGA (How to get big) Talking mostly about the "stuff" and how to organize it, do it.

Church on every other continent - Centered on Multiplication (Regardless of size)
Talking about the needy people around them and who will go there and share life with them.

Extraction Evangelism!

A good example of the problems of an evangelism-driven church can be found in Argentina, a country that has been experiencing revival since roughly 1982 when it lost a war with Great Britain. Gifted evangelists like Carlos Annacondia, Hector Gimenez, and Omar Cabrera sprang up at that time and had massive evangelistic rallies of almost unheard-of proportions, counting the “decisions for Christ” by the tens of thousands. However, since that time these men have had to honestly ask themselves where all those people are now. Pastors in a
Argentina have found it difficult to incorporate the many people who made decisions for Christ into existing or newly planted churches.

A September 1996 study done by DAWN Ministries revealed that Argentina then had one of the lowest church-planting rates in Latin America. The large number of converts had simply not translated into church growth. There must be a missing link. “Evangelism which pulls individuals out of their family context and provides no new context is half-baked and may well do more harm than good,” says Australian missiologist Alan Tippet.’"

(The House Church Book. Wolfgang Simson. Barna, 2009, pg xiv)

Simple Thing Go a Long Way in Africa!

We have been looking for ways to significantly Help the poor in Africa.
Something that was
1. Simple - easily used and maintained. Even kids could do it.
2. Economical - A modest investment that provides long term Sustainability.
3. Easily Repeated/Scalable Locally: Easily transferred to other villages without outside funding.

We finally found the single best way to help the bottom billion poorest people on earth. Most of whom are subsistence farmers. We have been doing this since 2009. However, we are now scaling up for a massive project in Mali.

These simple kits doubble the income for $1 a day families in Mali. Bringing food security into a region with 8 months of drought, next to the Sahara Desert.

Experience The Heartbeat of an African Village!

Ever wonder what it would be like to live and work in Africa? If you are drawn to the continent of Africa, particularly the much less known West Africa, read this book.

"Nine Hills to Nambonkaha: Two Years in the Heart of an African Village" by Sarah Erdman Amazon

This book is set in Northern Ivory Coast, around 1997, incidentally while I was living in the country too. (Was was there in 1995, through the first Christmas Coup in 2000, and locked down in 2004 in the bush for some time.)

To Understand what life is like in a former French colony/West African country, south of the Sahara (Sahel), this is a a highly recommended read.

She describes the patterns of life and death, work and rest, roles of men & women, the state of women in the village, cycle of dry to rainy season, incessant number of non educated wandering kids always at your door, very well.

If you wonder just how simply can one live in Africa, the Peace Corps shows the way. One can live very economically in Africa. The more we adopt local life, food, and rhythms, the more economical it becomes. Renting big villas, running AC's, and basically living and eating like a westerner can be costly.

Not all can live as simply as others, and unfortunately, most internationals never experience sleeping in a village much at all, hidden away in the central city villa, sojourning out to do their job and go home at night.

This book is smooth and well written to the rhythm of life there. Great detail, but not laborious. I was nodding my head on every page with shared understanding.

The only weak point is the book is Sarah's desperate lack of understanding of her own world view, even her own "christian faith". Makes it hard for her to go deeper into understanding the worldview of the locals. She just touches the surface of describing what they do, but has little insight or understanding as to why it is done. She takes pathetic stabs at it while having a total lack of understanding about the local "worldview", and offers little insight into how it is shaping the people before her, at the most foundational level. She never probes past the surface of this and looses some of the richness of insight about the people that could have been expressed. Typical of many kids her age fresh out of university! Having not probed their own worldview let along possessing the ability to express another persons. But most westerners don't even know what a worldview is, let along have any ability to articulate what theirs might be, and how it affects what they see, experience, or write. So most will not miss it in the book at all.

The feel of the rhythm of life in the village she captures is very exceptional.
All future interns will be required to read this book.


A second book highly recommended and read among the peace corp is

"Monique and The Mango Rains" by Kris Holloway Amazon

Similar story only set in Mali, West Africa. Shorter and less details, but still a good read.


Travelers, Short-termers, and visitors to Africa of any kind need this kind of read.

Buildings Are Dictating Our Theology

I found this quote to be insightful. Our reliance on church props really is a testament to how weak our fellowship really are. We are being manipulated by our model.

We advised church planters to watch for the problem of buildings. It seems most churches that don't have their own sanctuary building urgent folder to getting one, but we're not so sure this is always necessary. Church planter Andrew Jones cleverly says, any church. They cannot get by with the buildings, finances and paid experts is not for me being church. Having a building, some shared money, and some paid staff doesn't preclude you from being ineffective church, but if your church would be lost without them, there is a core problem....
And more than that, once the building has been erected, the church program and budget are largely determined by it. In order to service the mortgage, the church has to keep the pews filled in the offerings up, and so the pattern of the attractional mode is reinforced and confirmed. Next time you attend a church service, listen to all the language that betrays a belief that we come into the building the church building to "meet" God. Subtly the building starts to direct the theology presented in it. We build a sanctuary in which to worship God, and in that building slowly and enforces a sacred versus secular worldview upon us." (The shaping of things to come. Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch 2003 page 69.)."
(The shaping of things to come Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch 2003, pg 69

"Pretty" Women And Men Hear This For the Ladies/ Daughters in Your life

For the great beauty of a woman comes from the depths of her soul inside. And the outside is simply a gift, the ability to hold that beauty in your arms. Cherish the inside and hug and care for on the outside too. The last minute is a powerful.

Is it a good path?

African Proverb

"When a road is good, it is used a second time."

How would this speak to us as a church, one wishing to grow, but finding people just don't wish to walk this path we are on?

Putting Life To Rest!

This just made me think about many things for many hours!


"Woman's job is giving life; men take care of putting it to rest."

Sarah Erdman. Peace Corps workers Observation made about African funeral tradition in northern Ivory Coast

A true Friend

"A true friend is someone who sees the pain in your eyes while everyone else believes the fake smile."

When We Loose The People Because Of Seeking High Quality Show

"Any Christian can do this. You don't need to have inordinate skill or unusual abilities to make disciples. You don't need to be a successful pastor or a charismatic leader to make disciples. You don't need to be a great communicator or an innovative thinker to make disciples. That's why Jesus says every Christian must do this.
One of the unintended consequences of contemporary church strategies that revolve around performances, places, programs, and professionals is that somewhere along the way people get left out of the picture."

(Radical, David Platt kindle line 1266)

They Don't Want to Come Back to Church - Now What?

Invited people to church who simply have no interest in coming back? They said, "I tried that and it does not work for me."

Notice they said "Church" does not work for me". By that they mean this kind of church really is not for me. They said nothing bad about Jesus. Interesting, is it not? Is it possible our church culture can be a barrier to learning about Jesus? If you ever worked in other cultures you soon realize much of our "church Culture" is foreign and meaningless to many whole tribes, and ethnic groups of people. Same is true here also.

What is the response of the newest, hippest, live band, most amazing program, church, to people who have "Come to church" and find they really can't drag them back to this?

Then what?

Is there anything after that?

Nope! 99% of churches and church people will say, "Well, we tried".

We truly believe that church is a "one size MUST fit all".
We are learning that is not true. And like good missionaries, we are contextualizing the church for a new context. The diversity in expression will have to be accepted as some point because it has nothing to do with changing the doctrine or ordinances. It's simply letting church be what it should be. A peoples natural cultural expression of Faith in Christ assembling in his name. We don't tell them how that should look.

"As we’ve already pointed out, the relationship between the traditional Christendom mode of church and the world around it can best be described as being fundamentally attractional. The church bids people to come and hear the gospel in the holy confines of the church and its community. This seems so natural to us after seventeen centuries of Christendom, but at what price and to what avail have we allowed it to continue? If our actions imply that God is really only present in official church activities—worship, Bible studies, Christian youth meetings, ladies fellowships—then it follows that mission and evangelism simply involve inviting people to church-related meetings.

In fact, this is one of the core assumptions that the attractional church is based upon—the assumption that God cannot really be accessed outside sanctioned church meetings or, at least, that these meetings are the best place for not-yet-Christians to learn about God. (Blog note: would never say we "believe" this. we know its not true. However, iit is the lens by which we act, and criticize , with, so it is what many "believe") Evangelism therefore is primarily about mobilizing church members to attract unbelievers into church where they can experience God. Rather than being genuine “out-reach,” it effectively becomes something more like an “in-drag.”

Now, we are not suggesting that people can’t experience God in a church service. Of course they can, for in the preaching of God’s Word and the worship of God's people his true voice can be heard. But if the church limits God’s agency in this world to particular times and places that the vast majority of not-yet-Christians have no access to, or no desire to attend, then the gospel is effectively hobbled. God becomes mute to the vast majority of people in the Western world,
people who cannot interpret the church culture that has effectively imprisoned the good news within its cultural system. The only means to evangelize people becomes organizing little “patrols” to go into the world in order to rescue them and bring them back to the safety of “church.” Many westerners in our post-Christendom era report that they’ve tried church and found it wanting. If they don’t want to go back, what then?
If they won’t come to us, we have to go to them.

(The Shape Of Things To Come: Innovation and Mission For The 21st- Century Church. Michael Frost & Aln Hirsch, Hendrickson, 2003. pp 41-42)

Hunger & I

‎

"If I am hungry, it is a biological problem; if my brother is hungry, it is a spiritual problem"

Russian theologian Nicholas Berdyaev

What Are Chruch Planters & Missionaries Planting?

"In fact, it's more often than not been the case that Sunday services are planted rather than missional Jesus communities. "

(The Shape Of Things To Come. Michale Frost, Alan Hirsch. Hendrickson, 2003. pg 18)

I have served on Church planting organizations, and rubbed shoulders with many missionaries on the field. At times I have to say we accomplish only having a Sunday service going. However, these people have no real sense of any mission in their mind. These are the church plants that fail, not necessarily because of the weakness of the church planter, but because of the actual people who are "Non-Planted".

Accountants Mobilize For Mission

Mission not for select few. But for all.

for lunch with Steve, a businessman in our faith family, it's obvious we have different callings in our lives. He's an accountant; I'm a pastor. He is gifted with numbers; I can't stand numbers. But we both understand that God has called us and gifted us for a global purpose. So Steve is constantly asking, "How can I lead my life, my family, and my accounting firm for God's glory in Birmingham and around the world?" He is leading co-workers to Christ; he is mobilizing accountants to serve the poor; and his life is personally impacting individuals and churches in Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe with the gospel.
Steve and others like him have decided that they are not going to take the command of Christ to make disciples of all nations and label it a calling for a few. They are not going to sit on the sidelines while a supposed special class of Christians aceomplishes the global purpose of God. They are convinced that God has created them to make his glory known in all nations, and they are committing their lives to aceomplishing that purpose.

(Radical, David Platt, kindle line 1043)

Christian Spectators - or - Christians in Training

Is church something done for me, and to me? How about a training ground, instead of a show where I come and fold my arms to watch so I can be entertained and enriched.

Your Leaders were given to you to help train YOU. Not do "it" for you, and to you. If you're not ever going to get in training to live the love and life of Christ with your family, friends and neighbors go skiing instead. We've got more things to do than do "it" to you, and for you.

"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service...." Ephesians 4:11 - 12 (NIV)

"An evangelists fruit is not a convert, but more evangelists. Strangely enough, exactly the opposite of this biblical model has become the norm: specialist teachers, evangelists, pastors..... move about at breathtaking speed, constantly overworked and under stress, with more than just their blood pressures in danger.

They give seminars and speak at conferences where they present the latest state-of-the-art discoveries in their specialty areas, but they are doing exactly the opposite of their true God- given task. Instead of equipping God’s people for the ministry they are performing it for them. Instead of teaching people how to teach, they are just teaching. Instead of equipping people to be evangelists, they are simply evangelizing.......and then leaving—and seldom leaving disciples behind."

(The House Church Book. Wolfgang Simson. Barna, 2009, pg 63)

Witch Doctor Bewitches No More

"One brother, Raden, shared his testimony. With a fiery look in his eye and an intense tone in his voice, he said, "Before I became a Christian, I was a fighter. I learned ninja, jujitsu, and a variety of other techniques for taking people down."
I nodded. I was making a mental note: Don't mess with Raden.
He continued, "One day I was sharing the gospel in an village with people who had never heard of Jesus.
I was in one house sharing Christ with a family, and the witch doctor from the village came to the house." Witch doctors and magic men are common in villages like these. They hold sway over entire communities with their curses and incantations.
"The witch doctor called me out," Raden said. "He wanted me to fight him." Raden smiled as he confessed, "My first thought was to walk out there and take the witch doctor down.
But when I turned to go outside, the Lord told me that I no longer need to do the fighting. God would do the fighting for me."
So Raden walked outside, pulled up a chair, and sat down in front of the witch doctor. He told his challenger, "I don't do the fighting. My God does the fighting for me."
Raden recounted what happened next. "As the witch doctor attempted to speak, he began to gasp for air. He was choking and couldn't breathe.
People came running to see what was wrong, and within a few minutes the witch doctor had fallen over dead." By now the entire village had crowded around the scene. Raden said, "I had never seen anything like this, and ! didn't know what to do.
But then I thought, I guess this is a good time to preach the gospel." Raden smiled and said, "So that's what ! did, and many people in that village trusted in Christ for the first time that day."
(radical, David Platt)

Do All Mission Minded people Move Overseas?

In all this missions talk, you may begin to think, Well, surely you're not suggesting that we're all supposed to move overseas.
That is certainly not what I'm suggesting (though I'm not completely ruling it out!).
But this is precisely the problem. We have created the idea that if you have a heart for the world and you are passionate about global mission, then you move overseas. But if you have a heart for the United States and you are not passionate about global mission, then you stay here and support those who go. Meanwhile, flying right in the face of this idea is Scripture's claim that regardless of where we live--here or overseas--our hearts should be consumed with making the glory of God known in all nations.................Because from cover to cover the Bible teaches that all the church--not just select individuals, but all the church--is created to reflect all the glory of God to all the world. Because every single man, woman, and child in the church I pastor is intended to impact nations for the glory of Christ, and there is a God-designed way for us to live our lives here, and do church here, for the sake of people around the world who don't know Christ.

(Radical: David Platt, line 1089)

Blueprint Church & Bad Photocopies!

I live, plant, promote and desire simpler church! This reminds me of how we try to "Design Church", in our image. Worth reading!

"Imagine a young boy unwrapping a new puzzle and immediately trying to put the pieces together. Out of the puzzle box he pulls a picture of a red race car, (He loves red race cars!) Excited, he tries to assemble the pieces according to the picture. But somehow the pieces do not seem to fit as they should. He tries to make them fit better by bending them or tearing off an edge here and there, but something is still not right. Finally his father comes to the rescue. Dad takes the picture of the red race car and turns it over. Lo and behold, on the other side is a picture of a beautiful tree, the “original” picture depicted in the puzzle. The race car is only an advertisement for another puzzle made by the same company! The boy sighs with relief and starts to put the pieces together according to the new original; within minutes it is done. What was wrong before? He had all the right pieces, but the wrong original. He had unquestionable and honest motives, but quite simply the wrong blueprint.

Is this the situation of a large part of Christendom today? We have all the right pieces: the Word of God, people, houses, prayer, motivation, money. But could it be that we are putting them all together according to a wrong original—our very own beloved red race car? Has the unthinkable happened? Has someone cunningly slipped us an impractical blueprint? Do we stand transfixed in front of our spiritual photocopiers (Bible colleges, publishing houses, seminaries, or leadership programs), continuing to hit that green button in an effort to make copies of what we are convinced is a biblical, canonized, unquestionable, firsthand original? I can imagine that Satan, the enemy of the church, has no problem with even the most fervent evangelistic mission activities or programs, as long as they are all about making copies of red race cars—our traditional pattern of church that makes no serious threat to his claims on humankind.

Maybe the time has come for us to stop bending pieces and tearing them apart in an effort to make them match our picture of what the church should be and instead allow God to recreate church in all of us. It might start with us reexamining our blueprints and turning over our originals."

(The House Church Book. Wolfgang Simson. Barna, 2009, pg 1-2)

Are You Consuming Your Church? Sanctioned Inactivity

I need to know more, I need to learn more, I need to grow up more, I need to become more comfortable with....., I need....... I need...... I need..... and never get around to serving.

We actually provide people with a Sanctioned Inactivity in Church today.When
2 Peter 1:3 says : " His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness..."
Notice the past tense here. We have already been given everything we need. We don't need anything more to serve. That total provision was given to us the day we were saved as the Holy Spirit (God) came to reside in side of us. Certainy we ned to grow "more and more" (DO a NIV search) but the seeds are planted and growing.


If you knew enough to accept Jesus, we now know enough to share how to accept him with others. The silly excuses we make. It's not a lack of anything other than a lack of will, or desire, or obedience, or love, that keeps us from missional living. I know this is true, because I have been there too.

If you have Jesus you have his mission. Can't have one or the other. Package deal.

"Consumerism is based on the belief that I can’t help others until I help myself, that my own wants and needs trump the needs of others"

(Tangible Kingdom. Hugh Halter, pg 151. 2008, Jossey-Bass)

Indian Skinned Alive

"Since that day countless men and women in the history of Christianity have died for their faith. Some of them were not just hung on crosses; they were burned there. Many of them went to their crosses singing.
One Christian in India, while being skinned alive, looked at his persecutors and said, "I thank you for this. Tear off my old garment, for I will soon put on Christ's garment of righteousness."
As he prepared to head to his execution, Christopher Love wrote a note to his wife, saying, "Today they will sever me from my physical head, but they cannot sever me from my spiritual head, Christ." As he walked to his death, his wife applauded while he sang of glory."
(Radical, David Platt)

West African Proverb!

"When an old man dies, the library burns"

(West African Proverb)

80% of the world population are oral learners. Many of the peoples we work with speak oral languages, never written.

How true this proverb is.

Cultural Blinders

"The most basic procedure in a study of culture is to become a master of one's own. Everyone has a culture. No one can ever divorce himself from his culture. While it is true that anyone can grow to appreciate various different cultures, and even to communicate effectively in more than one, one can never rise above his own, or other cultures, to gain a truly supra-cultural perspective. For this reason, even the study of one's own culture is a difficult task. And to look objectively at something that is part of oneself so completely is nearly impossible."

(Lloyd E. Kwast "Understanding Culture"ph 397, perspectives 4th Ed)

Critique Personal And Cultural Assumptions

"Following Jesus has a very clear cost. And the cost includes living a life that sometimes runs contrary to the culture around us. Serious believers who want to go deeper in their discipleship must be willing to constantly critique both personal and cultural assumptions for the sake of becoming more like Jesus."

(Untamed. Alan & Debra Hirsch, Baker Books, 2010, pg 14)

Women's Job Is To Give Life; Men take Care Of Putting it To Rest!

From Cote D'Ivoire village. She writes very well and describes Africa Like I have never seen before. I felt like I was back there on every page. Vivid and real. Her last phrase of this paragraph fascinated me and lead me to ponder a whole evening. It's about a village funeral.

"The wails subside, and three women carry out a tiny bundle. The old men stand in a line facing east, with the imam in white at the middle. He calls out a prayer in a clear tenor. Goutoumaya takes the baby and turns south, toward the cemetery. The men fall into place in single file behind him. The women follow. It's a long, tight procession, silent and quicker than the regular pace of village wandering. As we near the empty marketplace at the edge of Nambonkaha, the men stride on. As if a cord has snapped, the women curl off the path, the ones in front leading those behind to peel off to the side and find shade. Just as women don't kill the chicken for dinner, they don't go near the cemetery.
Woman's job is giving life; men take care of putting it to rest."

(Nine Hills To Nambonkaha: Two Years In The Heart Of An African Village. Sarah Erdman. Picador, 2003, Pg 191)

You Owe Someone........!

"Every saved person this side of heaven owes the gospel to every lost person this side of hell."

(Radical, David Platt, kindle line 1057)

Models and Strategies With Guaranteed Results

"This is where I am most convicted as a pastor of a church in the United States of America. I am part of a system that has created a whole host of means and methods, plans and strategies for doing church that require little if any power from God." (Radical, David Platt)

"Not Called!" No Just Not Interested/Listening

"I'M NOT CALLED" I wonder if we have in some ways intentionally and in other ways unknowingly erected lines of defense against the global purpose God has for our lives. It's not uncommon to hear Christians say, "Well, not everyone is called to foreign missions," or more specifically, "I am not called to foreign missions." When we say this, we are usually referring to foreign missions as an optional program in the church for a faithful few who apparently are called to that.
In this mind-set, missions is a compartmentalized program of the church, and select folks are good at missions and passionate about missions. Meanwhile, the rest of us are willing to watch the missions slide shows when the missionaries come home but in the end God has just not called most of us to do this missions thing. But where in the Bible is missions ever identified as an optional program in the church?"

(Radical, David Platt, kindle line 1025)

Describes Western Gospel To. "T"

"Haven't you heard of the power of positive thinking? I can become a better me and experience my best life now.
That's why God is there--to make that happen. My life is not going right, but God loves me and has a plan to fix my life. I simply need to follow certain steps, think certain things, and check off certain boxes, and then I am good.

Both our diagnosis of the situation and our conclusion regarding the solution fit nicely in a culture that exalts self-sufficiency, self-esteem, and self-confidence. We already have a fairly high view of our morality, so when we add a superstitious prayer, a subsequent dose of church attendance, and obedience to some of the Bible, we feel pretty sure that we will be all right in the end"

(Radical, David platt)

God is Off His Mountain?

"I remember sitting outside a Buddhist temple in Indonesia. Men and women filled the elaborate, colorful temple grounds, where they daily performed their religious rituals. Meanwhile, I was engaged in a conversation with a Buddhist leader and a Muslim leader in this particular community.
They were discussing how all religions are fundamentally the same and only superficially different. "We may have different views about small issues," one of them said, "but when it comes down to essential issues, each of our religions is the same."
I listened for a while, and then they asked me what I thought. I said, "It sounds as though you both picture God (or whatever you call god) at the top of a mountain. It seems as if you believe that we are all at the bottom of the mountain, and I may take one route up the mountain, you may take another, and in the end we will all end up in the same place."
They smiled as I spoke. Happily they replied, "Exactly! You understand!" Then I leaned in and said, "Now let me ask you a question. What would you think if I told you that the God at the top of the mountain actually came down to where we are? What would you think if I told you that God doesn't wait for people to find their way to him, but instead he comes to us?" They thought for a moment and then responded, "That would be great." I replied, "Let me introduce you to Jesus."

(Radical, David Platt)

New Church Plant With 30 Baptized People To Graduate

"I was in Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, teaching in an Indonesian seminary. Before they graduate, the students in this seminary are required to plant a church, with at least thirty new, baptized believers, in a Muslim community. I spoke at their commencement ceremony, and as the graduates walked across the stage, I was captivated by the humble yet confident look on their faces. Every one of them had fulfilled the church-planting requirement. The most solemn part of the day was a moment of silence for two of their classmates who had died at the hands of Muslim persecutors."
(Radical, David Platt)

We Think We Save Others.

"An old preaching professor used to take his students to a cemetery every semester.
Standing on the perimeter overlooking scores of headstones, he would ask his students in all sincerity to speak over the graves and call people from the ground to rise up and live. With some embarrassment and an awkward chuckle or two, they would try it. Of course, one by one they would fail.
The professor would then look at his students and remind them of a core truth in the gospel: people are spiritually dead, just as those corpses in the cemetery were physically dead, and only words from God can bring them to spiritual life"

("Radical", David Platt)

A Chosen Incarnation!

There are many people moving into meaningful kingdom ministry by getting outside the fellowship and walls of the church. It's costing them, in terms of the institution of church, but what they are gaining is far too precious for them to give up such a movement. It's become more about a world of unbelievers all around them, than about themselves, or managing the institution.
They have gotten to the heart of what they have been looking for after years and years of service within the traditional track. Let's give permission for people to seriously move outside the walls, into darkness. They still know they still need fellowship with the "Church" around Acts 2:42. However, they do not need to "show up" at all the activities of "Your Church", free them to be an extension of the kingdom to that new little corner.

"Such people are all humble; they don’t rely on past experience or present ministry posts to define them. They grapple honestly with their financial stability and at times make incredible readjustments in order to spend time with the unchurched. Sometimes they get fired; often they are are misunderstood by those they leave in order to go with God into the world. These types of people are the ones who decide not to go to the next religious leadership conference so that they can stay home and go fishing with a friend who doesn’t know Christ. They leave the church office so they can do their work at Starbucks in order to meet someone new. They intentionally look out their window and see a neighbor and decide to act like they’re going to get their mail, just so they might strike up a conversation. These are the ones who embrace the fear, breathe, and then walk back into tension.
(Tangible Kingdom. Hugh Halter, pg 33, 2008, Jossey-Bass)

There is something about the above quote that makes me smile.

Sit Down Hang Around

"... people in Western civilization no longer have time for each other, they have no time together, they do not share the experience of time. This explains why Westerners are incapable of understanding the psychology of sitting. In villages all over the world, sitting is an important social activity. Sitting is not a 'wast of time' nor is it an manifestation of laziness. Sitting is having time together, time to cultivate social relation"
- Andreas Fuglesang

Church "Stuff" Too Expensive!

I remember when I was preparing to take my first trip to Sudan in 2004.
The country was still at war, and the Darfur region in western Sudan had just begun to make headlines. A couple of months before we left, I received a Christian news publication in the mail. The front cover had two headlines side by side. I'm not sure if the editor planned for these particular headlines to be next to each other or if he just missed it in a really bad way.
On the left one headline read, "First Baptist Church Celebrates New $23 Million Building." A lengthy article followed, celebrating the church's expensive new sanctuary.
The exquisite marble, intricate design, and beautiful stained glass were all described in vivid detail.
On the right was a much smaller article. The headline for it read, "Baptist Relief Helps Sudanese Refugees." Knowing I was about to go to Sudan, my attention was drawn.
The article described how 35o,ooo refugees in western Sudan were dying of malnutrition and might not live to the end of the year. It briefly explained their plight and sufferings.
The last sentence said that Baptists had sent money to help relieve the suffering of the Sudanese. I was excited until I got to the amount.
Now, remember what was on the left: "First Baptist Church Celebrates New $23 Million Building." On the right the article said, "Baptists have raised $5,000 to send to refugees in western Sudan."
Five thousand dollars.
That is not enough to get a plane into Sudan, much less one drop of water to people who need it. Twenty-three million dollars for an elaborate sanctuary and five thousand dollars for hundreds of thousands of starving men, women, and children, most of whom were dying apart from faith in Christ.
Where have we gone wrong? How did we get to the place where this is actually tolerable?"

Radical .

What Our Decadent Living Costs Others.

"Wake up." Wake up and realize that there are infinitely more important things in your life than football and a 4o1(k). Wake up and realize there are real battles to be fought, so different from the superficial, meaningless "battles" you focus on. Wake up to the countless multitudes who are currently destined for a Christless eternity.
The price of our nondiscipleship is high for those without Christ. It is high also for the poor of this world.
Consider the cost when Christians ignore Jesus' commands to sell their possessions and give to the poor and instead choose to spend their resources on better comforts, largerChristians gather in churches and choose to spend millions of dollars on nice buildings to drive up to, cushioned chairs to sit in, and endless programs to enjoy for themselves.
Consider the cost for the starving multitudes who sit outside the gate of contemporary Christian affluence."

"Radical" David Platt Multanomah books

Tears!

"Imagine all the blinds closed on the windows of a dimly lit room. Twenty leaders from different churches in the area sat in a circle on the floor with their Bibles open. Some of them had sweat on their foreheads after walking for miles to get there. Others were dirty from the dust in the villages from which they had set out on bikes early that morning.
They had gathered in secret. They had intentionally come to this place at different times throughout the morning so as not to draw attention to the meeting that was occurring.
They lived in a country in Asia where it is illegal for them to gather like this. If caught, they could lose their land, their jobs, their families, or their lives.
I listened as they began sharing stories of what God was doing in their churches. One man sat in the corner. He had a strong frame, and he served as the head of security, so to speak. Whenever a knock was heard at the door or a noise was made outside the window, everyone in the room would freeze in tension as this brother would go to make sureeverything was okay. As he spoke, his tough appearance soon revealed a tender heart.
"Some of the people in my church have been pulled away by a cult," he said. This particular cult is known for kidnapping believers, taking them to isolated locations, and torturing them. Brothers and sisters having their tongues cut out of their mouths is not uncommon.
As he shared about the dangers his church members were facing, tears welled up in his eyes. "I am hurting," he said, "and I need God's grace to lead my church through these attacks."A woman on the other side of the room spoke up next.
"Some of the members in my church were recently confronted by government officials." She continued, "They threatened their families, saying that if they did not stop gathering to study the Bible, they were going to lose everything they had." She asked for prayer, saying, "I need to know how to lead my church to follow Christ even when it costs them everything."
As I looked around the room, I saw that everyone was now in tears. The struggles expressed by this brother and sister were not isolated. They all looked at one another andsaid, "We need to pray." Immediately they went to their knees, and with their faces on the ground, they began to cry out to God. Their prayers were marked less by grandiose theological language and more by heartfelt praise and pleading.
"0 God, thank you for loving us."
"0 God, we need you."
"Jesus, we give our lives to you and for you." "Jesus, we trust in you."
They audibly wept before God as one leader after another prayed. After about an hour, the room drew to a silence,and they rose from the floor. Humbled by what I had just been a part of, I saw puddles of tears in a circle around the room."

"Radical" David Platt Multanomah books

How Rich Are You Exactly?

UN latest report.

1% of adults own 40% of worlds wealth. 50% of world adults own only 1% of worlds wealth.

This is the difference between rich/poor.

Link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2006/dec/06/business.internationalnews

Leaving - When is the "Right" time to Go to Africa?

"If you leave at a time that doesn't suit you, you'll arrive at a time that does". African Proverb

This was sent to us by Vida Cass, who served overseas for 47 years.

Vida understands that the choice to live life in distant, hard countries, like we do... On this side of the ocean, well, the time just never seems right to go.
But once you are there, serving, loving, connecting with great indigenous people, you know it was worth it - The Time was Right!

At every stage of our lives, there were always well meaning friends helping us find reasons why we should just stay home, and not be so concerned for Africans.

Our first Move to Africa - conversations were centered around the Kids being to Young. What about their health, education, language, socialization.

This re-entry to Africa sees conversations centered around - The kids are not established in life yet. They are in college, will be looking for jobs, how can you go? They may need you etc. I can talk to my kids any time for 40 cents a minute, and airplanes fly every day. If their is a crisis what do you think we will do?

Next African stage will be - The kids just got married and babies are on the way. What about the grand kids? They will need their grandparents. You need to be there to encourage their young families. Or, Son just lost his job, who will be there for them?

Well if we wait till they are established, what's next? You're too old to go. Your health is too bad. To many health risks for an old geezers like you two.
Shortly after that stage we will be dead.

I appreciated this African proverb sent to us from Vida Cass. She understands why one must go, and how no time really seems right from this comfortable vantage point. But from there, you can see you came just in time - The right time.

Test Your Manhood!

Macedonian Bishop Brent remarks: "We never know what measure of moral capacity is at our disposal until we try to express it in action. An adventure of some proportions is not uncommonly all that a young man needs to determine and fix his manhood's powers."

Work At Home First?

"Most of the Apostles died outside of Palestine, though human logic would have forbidden them to leave the coun- try until it had been Christianized." Charles H. Brent

"The challenge of the unoccupied fields of the world is one to great faith and, therefore, to great sacrifice. Our willingness to sacrifice for an enterprise is always in proportion to our faith in that enterprise. Faith has the genius of transforming the barely possible into actuality. Once men are dominated by the conviction that a thing must be done, they will stop at nothing until it is accomplished." Samuel Zwemer
Perspectives 4th Ed, pg 329

Sobering truth of Mission And Unreached Peoples

"........the beginning of the session highlighted that despite the fact that 86 percent of Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists do not personally know a Christ follower, 90 percent of missionaries go to “Christianized” regions, according to the World Christian Database.............

“In my 14 years working with Muslims, mobilizing churches in Korea, I came to realized that Muslims haven’t been missing people to God, but to God’s people,” said Henry Lee, a mission leader based in Seoul, South Korea.......

“The Indonesian church, by its own confession, said we have ignored them (difficult unreached people groups in Indonesia) because we didn’t want to pay the price, we were afraid, we didn’t think it would work, we didn’t think they would change. That’s what it means to be unreached.”


http://www.christianpost.com/article/20101022/african-churches-need-to-connect-bible-to-life-says-mission-leader/

How True

"Learning happens in the hallways, not the hall"

High Tec Mission

Look at how mission people are using technology to help them with their job's. My Son laughs at My Wife and I saying, "You guys have all the new gadgets before the kids do now." That is not true. However, his point is valid. We have leaded to use twitter, Facebook, Skype, how to make video's and movies, and use Ipods as portable computers.

With the rise of Internet cafes the IPod, and with the love and drastic rise of cell phones in places like Africa, the IPhone has the potential to become the single most useful portable product for missionaries. Language & Translation programs etc should all have Iphone apps, Recording apps are already available, as are video & photo apps.
All helping to keep communication & information Flowing.



Link to Interview

Please Throw More Church Members Out!

Evangelicals largely do not live missionally, because many are taught you must avoid being to close with bad people. I see this a lot in the Home School Community.

My wife actually had a conversation with a 50 year old lady who said this at a ladies bible study,

"You can't be best friends with a non-christian because they might draw you away from your faith."

Lynn said,

"Are you kidding me? You have been in church for over 40 years. If being a friend to an unbeliever will take your faith away, there is something very wrong with that faith."

That is the kind of thinking and preaching going on these days. Scary! How can we live as missionaries to this culture and place with that attitude? I can assure you its not Biblical, and it's not how Jesus lived. He ate with sinners, and that REALLY chaffed those who preached this very same crazy idea in His day. They criticized, "He eats with sinners"

"For whatever reason, the church at large has theologized the idea of personal holiness to exclude normal interaction with the world. Many churches we work with have an alarming theology of "extraction" that creates a Christian peer pressure to move away form the world....." (Tangible Kingdom. Hugh Halter, pg 136. 2008, Jossey-Bass)

"I wonder how God might lead us if we were more concerned about being a “friend of sinners” than a friend to those inside our church or denomination?"
(Tangible Kingdom. Hugh Halter, pg 46. 2008, Jossey-Bass)

We pat people on the back who are totally wrapped up in the church life and affairs. Those who are in the building doing things, and running programs all the time. Maybe its time to toss them out and tel them to get a real life, and a real mission.

In Luke 10:2 where Jesus said we should pray for the the Lord to "Send Forth/out" workers into the harvest field, is interesting. The Greek word for "Send out" is "Ekballo"- and it means to "toss out", "cast out", "throw out. Interestingly, the same word is used to describe Jesus casting our demons.

We need to pray that God "throw out" church members wrapped up in the church place to much. We would be doing them a favor. We are robbing them form some tremendous joy by interacting with people missionally in the community.