July 14, 2010 by The Mission Society
The new issue of Unfinished, The Mission Society’s quarterly magazine, is now online. Click the link below to learn more about The Mission Society’s work in Central America, and advice on short-term mission trips.
http://www.themissionsociety.org/magazines/unfinished/2010-47
July 13, 2010 by Ruth Burgner
I remember reading a long time ago reading about the importance of spending time with “seminal” (or foundational) writings. Plenty of books spring up from these central writings, but don’t waste your time reading those books, one writer cautioned. Go right to the source, he said.
For a long time, I’ve had the book, Humility, by Andrew Murray in my collection. It is one of these “seminal,” classic works. I have read reviews about it and heard from others that this short paperback can be life-changing. Some people even make a practice of reading it every year. So I’ve just begun—finally—reading this classic, and I’d like to share a couple paragraphs with you.
“[I]t is important that we know who Christ is, especially the chief characteristic that is the root and essence of His character as our Redeemer. There can be but one answer: it is His humility. What is the Incarnation but His heavenly humility, His emptying himself and becoming man? “He humbled himself and became obedient to death.” And what is His ascension and His glory but humility exalted to the throne and crowned with glory? “He humbled himself … therefore God exalted Him to the highest place.” In heaven, where He was one with the Father; in His birth, His life, and His death on earth; in His return to the right hand of the Father—it is all humility. Christ is the expression of the humility of God embodied in human nature; the Eternal Love humbling itself, clothing itself in the garb of meekness and gentleness, to win and serve and save us. As the love and condescension of God makes him the benefactor and helper and servant of all, so Jesus of necessity was the Incarnate Humility. And so He is still, in the midst of the throne, the meek and lowly lamb of God.”
I’m reading Humility during July days when 100+ people – Mission Society staff, future missionaries (from the United States and Brazil) and their families – are in Brazil for missionary training. Gathered there for three weeks, they will talk on many subjects. But underlying every minute of training, there will be one message reiterated over and over and over again: Humility. They will be reminded that messengers who announce the Good News of Jesus do so with the very humility of Christ. Christ’s messengers must be “incarnational.” Like Jesus, they must live among the people – and live as the people live. They must carry out their ministries with the deep understanding that they are not “bringing Christ” to people. Christ is already there. He has been at work in the lives around them, in the culture, in the community, and nation. Their work (the work of all of us) is to humbly point to what Jesus has already been doing —long before we ever showed up on the scene.
“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,” wrote the Apostle Paul, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness, and being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.” (Phil. 2:5-8, NRSV)
July 8, 2010 by Reed Hoppe
I’ve thought a lot about the issue of obedience lately. I’m raising a two-year old and the issue of obedience comes up quite a bit. I’ll preface this post by saying that my daughter is wonderful, sweet, kind to others, very intelligent, and I’m so thankful for her. She’s so great that I often forget she’s two and probably expect more of her than I should. All kids resist bedtime, brushing their teeth, getting a bath, whatever the case may be. When I ask Susanna to do something repeatedly and she doesn’t comply, I get frustrated. Sometimes I’m more patient than others, but in the end it always frustrates me when she doesn’t do whatever I’ve asked of her.
When I get frustrated, I often think of God and how infinitely more patient, forgiving, and grace-filled He is than I am. God asks little things of me all of the time that I resist, pretend that I didn’t hear, or argue against. I’m just like my two-year old, resisting her Parent’s orders. Whether it’s to be the bigger person in a strained relationship, be faithful in my devotional time, or pack up my bags and serve overseas, I need to be obedient.
As a mom, everything I do is for the best interest of my children. As God’s child, I need to be respectful of the One Who knows all and always has my best interest in mind.
June 28, 2010 by Richard Coleman
[Sigh] This morning, it happened again. It was the third time in my life that it happened. I tried to avoid it, but…[Sigh] I hit a squirrel. The first squirrel I ever hit was in the parking lot of Oral Roberts University. I was driving from the upper to lower lot, and a squirrel ran in front of my car. I felt a bump as I kept driving and knew that I was guilty of animal-slaughter. I felt awful. It was as if I committed a sin. I killed an animal. The second squirrel I hit was in my neighborhood. The cute, fuzzy creature tried to fake out my car as if my car was a defensive back closing in for a tackle. Before you knew it [bump], I was guilty of another case of animal-slaughter. My heart sank. Well, today, less than a minute away from my neighborhood, another squirrel thought it was a running back and tried to fake out my car. [Bump]
How in the world do my three cases of animal-slaughter relate to missions, or the Gospel for that matter? I’m glad you asked. The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:18 to flee sexual immorality. It tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:14 that we should flee idolatry. In 1 Timothy 6, we are told to flee false doctrine and the love of money. In 2 Timothy 2:22, we are told to flee from the evil desires of youth. These verses don’t tell us to negotiate when we see these evils coming our way, nor do they tell us to stare at them and let them hold our gaze. No! Unlike the squirrel that held its gaze on the car and made indecisive moves, we should flee decisively away from the evil that heads straight toward us. Otherwise, we could end up as spiritual road kill.
June 24, 2010 by Jim Ramsay
When I was in my 20’s, I had a promising career in information technology. What had started as a sort of part-time job to help me get through seminary ended up being a full-time management job that actually paid for seminary. But I knew I was called to missions, so my wife Shawn and I chose to live on significantly less than my salary to avoid getting used to the higher lifestyle that was becoming possible. As is common among people in their 20’s, former college classmates who were into financial planning careers found me and wanted to be my financial advisor.
When I talked of our plans to be missionaries and that my current salary was probably more than I’d make the rest of my life, their faces would just glaze over. Their models completely failed. In every case but one, they pretty much ignored my statements and continued with their “advice” which always assumed that with the progressing years would come higher salaries, bigger houses, more expensive vacations, fancier cars, and great needs for retirement and college savings. The one person who was able to help me had actually been a pastor and was able to work with our plans of downward mobility.
My point here is not to give financial advice to downwardly mobile people, but to suggest that as believers, we should question the upwardly mobile assumptions of our culture. It is everywhere – even in the church – just look at the career paths of pastors and the expectations of their parishioners! Take a read of Philippians 2 and see if there are signs of upward mobility in the model given us by Jesus – a model we are commanded to follow.
These thoughts have come to me as our nation struggles with the consequences of our demand for oil, as we wonder how we can afford for the government to spend what is required to keep us in our upwardly mobile lifestyles. (Upward mobility is not just individual, it is generational – what was a luxury to one generation is often a commodity to the next.) The implications for Christian mission are enormous. For one, people who are not open to downward mobility will not be able to hear the call of God to missions. Or their response to that call will fall short of the level of commitment and identification that is really needed. Secondly, our credibility as missionaries from the West is horribly compromised when our ‘necessities’ for life are so far beyond the experience of much of the world.
Well, since this is a blog rather than a sermon or essay, I’ll not elaborate more. I’ll just toss those thoughts out there to be considered. I challenge all of us to question the idea of upward mobility – often associated with “the American Dream.” I invite us to look at our own lives and give thought to where we might be more downwardly mobile for the sake of the Kingdom – a Kingdom which, in reality, provides the only upward mobility that really lasts!
June 22, 2010 by Theresa Gardner
Last month, The Mission Society held its semi-annual board meeting, which remarkably always ends up to be two of the most impactful days of the year for me. Amidst anointed ministry, fellowship with several of our missionaries, intense informational and planning meetings, and much laughter around meal times, it was during follow-up “busy work” that God gave me a life instruction.
As I reviewed written feedback from our board members on the logistics of this particular meeting, one gentleman’s answer to four of our questions was, “keep it simple.” The first two times I thought, “good idea – I can do that.” The third time, I chuckled. The fourth time hit me like a ton of bricks.
For the past two years I’ve been simplifying my life. My kids are grown now, the house stays orderly, and my garage is clean. But what about all the clutter of concern that goes on in my head?
Keep it simple. I’ve made faith complicated and find I still must work for approval, and particularly for blessings. These days I’ve learned to take long walks in the park, breathe normal, and sit down for an hour and read a book, but I have yet to unlearn the many ways in which I have complicated the Gospel. What God has reminded me of is this: Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Period. That is the simplicity of the Gospel.
In keeping it simple, we must learn to just rest in His love. This means my approach to Him must be simple. It means I withhold nothing from Him. It means that I shed preconceived ideas about who He is, and my stance is that of a child with open arms, receiving. It means that fear or confidence, lack or fullness, sorrow or joy – nothing clouds my thoughts or consumes me. Except Him. It means I can trust Him completely.
Because He loves me.
Plain and simple.
June 11, 2010 by Steve Wilson
Do you have a Bible?
Do you have a church?
Do you have another Christian in your life?
Some people say NO to all three. Some of the people who say NO would surprise you! From Afghanistan to France, Mexico to Iran, there are millions who are unreached or UNENGAGED! Does anyone know sign language? Well, there are many people around the world who are deaf that need to hear about Jesus. Now, yes – I was just made aware that sign language is not universal, so if you do know sign language, you’d have to learn a 2nd sign language to reach these people. But, if people have told you that you like to use your hands when you talk, then here’s your sign…(drum sound effects).
Another group that is probably off your radar, but who uses radar every day, are seafarers. They might not say NO to all of these questions, but they are still UNENGAGED. I learned about this recently when I went to Japan. In a conference there were people saying that we need to help mobilize the 266,000 Filipinos who work as seafarers to reach these people. Then to make sure I heard, God put me on the plane next to a great guy who was a seafarer from the Florida Keys. He had some interesting stories, and I heard a few of them on our 14-hour flight back to Atlanta. One thing I learned was that seafarers used to be some of the most well read people in the world. They certainly had the time!! However, now they spend their time watching movies. If you ever thought the perfect life would be at sea, watching movies, and you love Jesus, then your ship may have just come in…(repeat sound effects above).
June 9, 2010 by johnny_winkle
Recently, in my church small group, our discussion turned to hearing God’s voice. We talked about some of the challenges of this as well as some of our joys when we knew we had heard God speak to us.
One question came up about how it sometimes seems like God tells us one thing, and then later tells us something else that seems to oppose the earlier word. “Is God changing his mind?,” one friend of mine asked. Several people went on to say they were confident of God’s voice at a certain point in their lives directing them in a certain direction, only later to hear God speaking to them to go a different direction. It seems at times like God has us running through the maze of His imagination. Why would the Spirit lead us this way?
We talked and the Lord showed us how this happens for our own sake, because God knows if the final destination was revealed to us we might either, 1.) run from it, or 2.) do all we can to make it happen in our own power and strength. God is not changing his mind, but knows that on this journey with Jesus it is better for us to take one step of obedience at a time. Not knowing the whole picture encourages us to remain dependant on Him and continue to listen for His voice.
We see this in the life of Abraham (Genesis 22) when God tells Abraham to go the region of Moriah and sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering. Abraham travels there with Isaac, confident of what the Lord said to him. When he placed Isaac on the altar, he was ready to sacrifice him in obedience to what God had told him. The angel of the Lord interrupts Abraham and he does not kill Isaac. God provides a ram for the sacrifice at the last moment, knowing Abraham’s devotion to Him.
It would have been easy for Abraham to have ignored the angel and gone ahead with the sacrifice of Isaac because he knew the Lord had told him to make this sacrifice. It had been clear. Oswald Chambers writes, “The great point of Abraham’s faith in God was that he was prepared to do anything for God. He was there to obey God, no matter to what belief he went contrary. Abraham was not a devotee of his convictions, or he would have slain Isaac and said that the voice of the angel was the voice of the devil.”
It is important of course to pray for discernment so that when we hear a voice, we, like Abraham, can know it is the voice of God, and not the voice of the enemy.
So I encourage you today to continue to listen for God’s voice, even after He has spoken clearly to you. We can trust that He loves us completely and that wherever He leads us, even if it’s in a maze of directions, He is faithful to lead us through every situation.
June 1, 2010 by Richard Coleman
I recently visited the Tennessee Aquarium and was absolutely amazed at the variety of creatures on display. The colors, shapes, behavioral tendencies, etc., of the animals were quite fascinating. I actually clapped my hands toward God in front of one of the creatures because it was such an amazing creation. God is such an awesome Creator!!!
My feelings of joy quickly came to an end as I reflected on the animals I’d seen whose natural habitat was the Gulf of Mexico. I felt an uneasiness in my stomach, and a sadness came over me. My mind then shifted to the fact that many people around the world do not recycle and do not take good care of the environment. My stomach grew even more uneasy. In a matter of minutes, I was feeling pretty sad. Why is it that people—creatures made in God’s image—don’t and won’t care for the rest of God’s creation? What’s worse, why is it that many Christians, the ones who have given their lives to Jesus, don’t and won’t care for the rest of God’s creation?
Whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, whether your county has a recycling program or not, whether it’s inconvenient or not, DO YOUR PART. THINK GREEN. Care for God’s creation.
May 27, 2010 by Jim Ramsay
Today I got to go with several of our intern trainees to visit the huge Hindu temple that is just a couple miles from where we live in Lilburn. I had watched it being built as I drove past it daily after we first moved here in 2006, I saw the thousands of people at the opening in 2007 that made the scene look like it was from Bombay rather than Lilburn, and I have pointed it out to various visitors. But today I finally went with our trainees to see inside it. We take our trainees there as an opportunity to learn a bit about another religion and to reflect on how we would engage them with our own faith in Jesus.
The temple itself is an amazing architectural sight. But what struck me about this visit was the manner in which the guide explained things to us. He had obviously done his homework on Christianity, on our symbols and many of our beliefs. So as he presented the beliefs of this particular denomination of Hinduism, he did so in terms that would at least not seem too foreign to the local Christian population. Even the word “denomination” is one that we could relate to. He spoke of their “deities” as more akin to Christian belief in “angels” – and emphasized that his denomination (BAPS) is monotheistic – believes in one true God.
Do I think this young man believed as we do? No, that would be a silly claim and I think he would fully agree. But by learning how to frame Hindu belief in terms and concepts that are familiar to Christians, he made it much easier for us to understand about their faith and challenged some of the stereotypes we came with. In short, a meaningful discussion of the True God becomes possible when we make the effort to talk with understanding rather than talk past one another.
What hit me is that, as believers in Christ, we should be no less diligent in understanding the concepts familiar to those we are sharing with and we should be aware of the stereotypes they bring to the conversation. It is tragic in a conversation about Jesus, when in reality it is not Jesus who the person rejects, but the way the message is delivered or, yet worse, the messenger him or herself. Fortunately many Christians are taking advantage of opportunities to learn about other people, how they think, and how one can share about Jesus in a way that invites understanding rather than rejection.
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