Tupperware, Mary Kay and the Bible

Wild title, huh?  Well, if you have not read about what we are doing here before now, then READ THIS!  Once you have read THIS, then what I am saying will make more sense. 

 

Basically, we are entering the community we feel called to, locating people of peace (POP) and trying to have those people gather their natural community together to discover Jesus through the Bible. We are starting what we call "Discovery Bible Studies" that we hope turn into churches.  The idea here is that you want the gathering to consist of local people who naturally hang out, so the group is easier to form and more sustainable in the long term than some clumsy group of strangers. Makes sense to me.

 

But then it hit me last week.  This is no original idea.  In fact, it is something you are probably quite familiar with.  

 

Isn't this what Tupperware salespeople do?

 

Isn't this the basic model that Pampered Chef follows?

 

And Mary Kay?

 

And Tastefully Simple?  

 

You get the point.  Sharing and selling your "product" works most effectively and spreads most naturally if you utilize the pre-existing relational networks that people naturally dwell in.

 

And is it not the same with the gospel?  If we could get past our fears, wouldn't our family and friends be the best place to live out something so important to us?  Instead, many of us do the opposite.  We keep "church" separate.  So, did we steal the idea from tupperware or has this been the age old process of discipleship that they "stole" from us? ;-)

Book Review: "Radical" by David Platt

Yesterday I finished the book "Radical" by David Platt.  My Mom recommended it.  Two days after that, an older couple that Tricia and I have great respect for (Lew and Helen Good) recommended it to me. So, I took it seriously and read it. Both said that they thought of me when they read it and thought I would love it.  They were right!  

 

In a word: Inspiring book by a passionate Pastor with an Apostolic heart! 

 

Here are of a few highlights and quotes that blessed me:

• "So, how was I to reconcile the fact that I was now pastoring thousands of people with the fact that my greatest example in ministry was known for turning away thousands of people?" ... "I realized that I was a megachurch leader following a minichurch leader."
• I like the way that Platt challenges complacency and inspires people to follow Jesus boldly and audaciously.  He says that "the gospel evokes unconditional surrender of all that we are and all that we have to all that he is."
• While Platt casts a vision greater than the American Dream, I think he does so with respect for the Nation in which he lives.  However, he clearly asserts that the commands of the gospel contradict the American Dream. He said: "While the goal of the American Dream is to make much of us, the goal of the gospel is to make much of God."
• A repeated theology of this book I found refreshing was the idea that we are not at the center of God's plan.  HE IS! "The message of Biblical Christianity is not 'God loves me, period.' as if we are the object or our own faith.  The message of biblical Christianity is that God loves me so that I can make him, his salvation, his ways, his glory, and his greatness known among all nations!" We are not the end of the gospel, God is. 
• I LOVED the way that Platt encourages every reader to take mission serious for themselves.  He clearly believes that missions is for everyone and that no one should ever settle for just watching a slideshow and writing a check. 
• "For everyone wanting a safe, untroubled, comfortable life free from danger, stay away from Jesus."

Platt did an awesome job of championing several causes throughout the book:

• Care for the poor...
• Church in action...
• GOing as necessary, not optional...
• Making the gospel known among the nations is for ALL people, not some people...
• Your comfort is nowhere near as important as your obedience to Jesus...

 

Frankly, I did NOT care much for Chapter 7: There is No Plan B. Basically, I do not jive with some of his theology in this chapter.  Namely on the destiny of those who never heard the gospel and his understanding of heaven. Basically, he paints the salvation of the world to rest upon us in our GOING instead of on Jesus and His DOING.

 

Here is a great summary paragraph:

Real success is found in radical sacrifice.  Ultimate satisfaction is found not in making much of ourselves, but in making much of God. The purpose of our lives transcends the country and culture in which we live. Meaning is found in community, not individualism. Joy is found in generosity, not materialism. And truth is found in Christ, not Universalism. Ultimately, Jesus is a reward worth risking everything to know, experience and enjoy.

 

Finally, the book ends with what Platt calls the "Radical Experiment" where he challenges readers to make a one year commitment to these 5 things:

1. Pray for the entire world.
2. Read through the entire Word.
3. Sacrifice your money for a specific purpose.
4. Spend your time in another context. 
5. Commit your life to a multiplying community. 

I am excited that I was doing all 5 of these before he asked....

 

Great book.  Recommend it highly. 

Helping Save a Life

Since earlier today, I have been trying to convince myself that this cannot be possible, but it is!

 

The story of my eventful day goes like this: 

• At 9am, I got a call from a 15 year old boy that I am discipling in Masi.  He told me that his mom (Ntombi) is having some type of dental emergency and needed a ride to the dentist here in town. She needed picked up in an hour.  I said yes.  I was there at 10 in front of their shack to get them. 
• When I placed my eyes on Ntombi, I could not believe what I was seeing.  The right side of her face was so swollen it looked like a second head growing off of her face.  Honestly, it looked like something in a comic book or drawing.  Huge swelling!  Nothing like I have ever seen before.
• I dropped them at the appointment, headed back to class and waited on a call to pick them up.  Tricia went to pick them up.  When she arrived the Doctor came out and told Tricia that if this lady did not get to Tygerberg Hospital (about an hour away from where we live) by the end of the day, she could die!  Yes, die!  Of a swollen face because of an infected tooth!
• Immediately we figured out where this place was and drove to Tygerberg Hospital where they did emergency dental surgery and then admitted her to the hospital for the night--again reaffirming that had she not got in soon, the swelling would have prevented her from breathing and she would have died.  
• So, seeing as how Ntombi had no person or no money to help her today, we felt like we were able to participate in saving a life all because we had the time, the car and the desire to serve this dear lady.  

 

I pray that she is having a restful night.  We will pick her up and take her back home tomorrow, Lord willing. It is such a different world here.  People die due to dental infections quite often according to a lady I spoke to today at the hospital.  Hard to believe for an American.  There is so much we take for granted.  Today reminded me afresh.     

"Love Wins"- What I Disliked

Yesterday, I posted about some of the things that I liked about Rob Bell’s new book, “Love Wins”.  Read about it HERE.

 

Today, I will share some things that I was not as fond of.  As I do, I must say up front how hard this is for me…not because I think there is anything wrong with thoughtful and constructive disagreement, but because of the spirit in which so many “Christians” have behaved toward Bell over the last month.  I would be grieved to be placed in that camp.  I long to embody Jesus’s love and grace—even to people I have never met or may not agree with.  That said, here we go:

 

1. Ok, while I loved Bell’s position and understanding of heaven as being here now AND coming later, I think that he did a poor job explaining his understanding of forever.  He says that “heaven is not forever in the way we think of forever, like days and years marching into the future.”  Well, if heaven is not forever like we think of it, then how is it?  “Forever” like Rob Bell thinks of it?  I get that he was trying to point out how we apply our limited dimensions to our theology even when it is not in the Bible, but I think that this is one of several places in the book where he makes a troubling comment and then does a weak job of explaining it.

 

2. In my assessment, here is what Bell does very well throughout the book: He asks curious questions about hot/loaded topics and then hints at where he MAY stand.  However, rarely does he clearly state his own position---unless on something safe, like God’s love.  Well, hello, we ALL believe in that.  Now tell me what the hell you think about hell.  ;-)

 

3. Three criticisms I have of how he handles scripture: 1) Uses a passage to prove a point he is making in a way that leaves out the many other possible meanings and realities of the passage, 2) Brings in a poignant passage but does not exegete it enough…leaves so much about the passage unstated and 3) Leaves out (I hope not conveniently) other passages that may disprove his perspective and where I found myself saying “well, what about….”?! 

 

4. My one word explanation of Bell’s chapter on hell: “huh”?  There is no lack of scripture.  He points to every single place that the word hell appears in the Bible (btw, almost every time Jesus refers to hell he is talking about the local trash dump in Jerusalem).  And he presents multiple popular streams of thought on the topic, but he doesn’t really expand on any of them in depth nor does he clearly state his own position.  He is basically saying we choose hell.  We can make that choice now or later.  Hell is when we reject God’s awesome story and plan for our lives and choose destruction and evil.  Bell says that “there is hell now and hell later and Jesus teaches us to take both seriously”.  Where is gets sticky is that Bell seems to think that eventually the love of God will woo everyone over to choosing heaven, because, in the end, love wins.  Bell takes Philippians 2 (and many other passages) literally that EVERY knee will bow and EVERY tongue will confess.  But, no matter how you slice it, it is muddy…because for every verse like that there is one about damnation and judgment.  Bell might believe that you can choose God after death.  He might not. He might believe that refusing God long enough makes you something other-than-human.  He might not.  He might believe that eventually God will get what God wants and ALL PEOPLE will love him.  He might not.  I guess I am just not smart enough…or Bell is just not clear enough. All in all though, I felt like it was a tad unfair of me to like his stuff on heaven and dislike his stuff on hell—when both seemed equally as rooted in the Bible.  Not easy stuff here, but I strongly encourage you (though it may be tempting) not to dismiss it just because you are not comfortable with it.  We do not develop true faith like that.

 

All said, I end with this quote from Rich Mouw, President of Fuller Seminary, which I think really captures my own conclusion about a lot of this:

Why don’t folks who criticize Rob Bell for wanting to let too many people in also go after people who want to keep too many people out? Why are we rougher on salvific generosity than on salvific stinginess?”

 

_____________

PS- If you are interested in these things, read the book. But may I make an even stronger recommendation?  Read “Surprised by Hope” by NT Wright.  In this book, you will get all the same basic stuff except explained in brilliant theological and historical detail.  Every question that Bell leaves unanswered, Wright answers with Biblical genius.  

Learning Xhosa

When we planned to move here to South Africa for missions, we did not really plan on learning a foreign language, because most people in SA speak English.  You can get by with it.  But, "getting by" is not what Tricia or I are looking for.  We want to connect with people's hearts and bring Jesus to them.  Greeting someone in THEIR heart language gets you a WAY different reaction than greeting them in YOUR heart language. And since it is "hearts" that we are after, we are working to learn a "heart language".  

 

Most of the people that live in the township we minister in speak Xhosa. Of the 11 national languages in South Africa, Xhosa is the second most prevalent.  The first is Zulu and I am told that if you know Xhosa, you can understand about 70% of Zulu. Xhosa is full of fun clicks and wild sounds.  

 

Well, last week we began a 6 week Xhosa class that could turn into a lot more. We will see.  All I know is that in one week, it has transformed the way that I can communicate with locals.  Heading out the door now for class number 2.  I love languages.  I love the nations! Here we are with our new All Nations friends at class:

See the full gallery on Posterous

"Love Wins" - What I Liked (first)

Brilliant (negative) marketing. Great writer. Good book. Undeveloped content. There you have it.  My review in 13 words.

 

In case you have somehow missed the stir, there is a Pastor of a big church in Michigan (Rob Bell) that wrote and released a book about heaven, hell and the fate of every person who ever lived.  It is called "Love Wins".  It has caused a huge stir mainly because of Bell's unusual (not necessarily unbiblical) theology of heaven and hell. Because of the supercharged topic and the radical view Bell shares, the book is under scrutiny and, as a result, flying off the shelves (earlier this week it was #5 on Amazon charts). Bell has been interviewed by numerous news channels and has been trending in social media for the last several weeks. 

 

Now for the more detailed version of my personal review.  In this post, I will share what I liked.  In the next post about the book, I will share what I didn't. So, what I liked:

 

1. His poetic writing style.

 

2. I really appreciated the pages of stunning questions that Bell lays out in Chapter 1.  Read about that HERE in my blog earlier this week. 

 

3. LOVED Bell's chapter on heaven entitled "Here Is the New There" and I will give it more airtime than the other parts of the book. His perspectives on heaven were consistent with both the Bible and my spirit's sense of God's plan for us. Really, it is quite simple.  Most of the Christians that I know (and many of you reading this right now) believe that heaven is somewhere else in some far away high up place---and it will be beautiful like nothing you have ever seen with gold streets and a gate that Peter is standing at, etc.  Many think that we will evacuate out of this terrible place into a better place somewhere else--these are our ideas, not the Jesus' of the Bible. In one quote the author says that "eternal life is less about a kind of time that starts when we die, and more about a quality and vitality of life lived now in connection to God." Bell sums up the Biblical picture of heaven with these words...and it is quite different than what I hear at EVERY funeral I have ever been to..

 

Jesus consistently affirmed heaven as a real place, space and dimension of God's creation, where God's will and only God's will is done. Heaven is that realm where things are as God intends them to be. On earth, lots of wills are done. Yours, mine and many others. And so, at present, heaven and earth are not one. What Jesus taught, what the Prophets taught, what all Jewish tradition pointed to and what Jesus lived in anticipation of, was the day when heaven and earth would be one. The day when God's will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. The day when earth and heaven will be the same place. This is the story of the Bible. This is the story Jesus lived and told. As it's written at the end of the Bible in Revelation 21: "God's dwelling place is now among the people."

 

4.  I have found this to be SOOOO true:

 

It often appears that those who talk most about going to heaven when you die talk the least about bringing heaven to earth right now, as Jesus taught us to pray: "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." At the same time, it often appears that those that talk the most about relieving suffering now talk the least about heaven when we die. 

 

5. Hence, I have also found this to be stunningly correct:

 

Often the people most concerned about others going to hell when they die seem less concerned with the hells on earth right now, while the people most concerned with the hells on earth right now seem least concerned with the hell after death. 

 

6. Contrary to mass criticism stating such, I do not find Bell to be a Universalist.  I love how people talk before they think-- or read! Not!

 

7. Also, contrary to widespread report, Bell uses scripture constantly. It is all throughout the book. Loved that! (However, how he handles some of them, along with the ones he conveniently leaves out were troubling. More on that later.)

 

8. Bell addresses heaven in chapter 2 and hell in chapter 3.  It seems to me that that bulk of the rest of the book was fairly safe as it unpacked the intense and indescribably love that God has for people-- and his desire to save and restore ALL of what he has made.  

 

9. Overall, I love how good Bell is at inviting readers to question old perspectives and consider new ones. Look, unless you enter into this book with an anti-Rob Bell agenda, which many are, you will easily learn that the main theme of the book is not about the subtitle, but the main title.  The heart of the book is CLEARLY about the indescribable and unbelievable love that God has for you and me more than what happens after we die...which Bell is clearly much less concerned about than what we are doing NOW to make Jesus' dreams come true.  

 

Coming soon....to be fair....I must share what I did not like.  L8R...

 

PS- I really like my friend Brandon Jones perspectives on the book.  He has posted multiple times.  Check him out HERE!

Some Random Things

Finished "Love Wins" by Rob Bell and look forward to blogging my reflections when I have time.
Now reading "Surprised by Hope" by NT Wright-- a far more scholarly work on the same topic. Much harder read. More on this one later.
Got stood up in Masi this morning. Discouraging. Pressing on though. God had other appointments waiting and we kept heart.
I'm pretty sick today. Last night I came down with whatever flu Tricia had. She's so generous to have shared. Welcome your prayers. Feel like garbage. Fever is 102.
Laying here now watching a movie with my best buddy Davis. I love him so much. Not into the movie though.
If I'm better tomorrow, we plan to go to the Cape of Good Hope- a national park where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. That'll be cool.
Then Tuesday we start our 7th week of CPx. We only have about 4 weeks until lecture phase ends and full time outreach begins.
One more thing- we love you!

"Love Wins" - Questions

Jesus loved to ask questions. It is one of the things that I love so much about Him. Rob Bell recently released a very controversial book called "Love Wins; Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Has Ever Lived." In the introduction and first chapter of the book, he shares loads of stunning questions....questions that he has and that many of us have. I wanted to share some of the questions he posed.

 

Note: I will not be sharing answers. I do not know how to answer many of them....and evidently Rob Bell doesn't either, at least not in this book.

 

Warning: If you cannot handle hard questions about God and Faith, do NOT read this. Please read that last sentence again.

 

So, here we go:

 

Of all the billions of people who have ever lived, only a select number will make it to "a better place" and every single other person will suffer in torment and punishment forever? Is this acceptable to God? Has God created millions of people over tens of thousands of years who will spend eternity in anguish? Can God do this, or even allow this, and still claim to be a loving God? If there are only a select few who go to heaven, which is more terrifying to fathom: the billions who burn forever or the few who escape this fate? How does a person end up being one of the few? Chance? Luck? Random Selection? Being born in the "right" place, family or country? Having a Youth Pastor who "relates better to kids"? What kind of faith is that? More importantly, what kind of God is that?

 

Many people believe that there is an age at which people are smart enough and old enough to "believe" the "right" things about God. People often refer to this as the "age of accountability". Most think this is around 12 years old. This brings up several questions, one being the risk that every new life then faces. If every new baby born could grow up to NOT believe the right things and go to hell forever, then prematurely terminating a child's life anytime from conception to 12 years old would actually be the loving thing to do, guaranteeing that the child ends up in heaven, and not hell, forever. Why run the risk?

 

So, when a 15 year old atheist dies in a car accident, and missed his chance by 3 years, what happens? Was God limited to that 3 year window and if the message did not get to that young man in time, well, that is just unfortunate? And what exactly would have had to happen in that three-year window to change his future? Would he have had to perform a specific rite or ritual? Or take a class? Or be baptized? Or join a church? Or have something happen somewhere in his heart?

 

Some believe he would have had to say a specific prayer. Christians don't agree on exactly what this prayer is, but for many the essential idea is that the only way to get into heaven is to pray at some point in your life, asking God to forgive you and telling God that you accept Jesus, you believe Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for your sins, and you want to go to heaven when you die. Some call this "accepting Christ," others call it the "sinner's prayer," and still others call it "getting saved," being "born again," or being "converted."

 

That, of course, raises more questions. What about people who have said some form of "the prayer" at some 
point in their life, but it means nothing to them today? What about those who said it in a highly emotionally 
charged environment like a youth camp or church service because it was the thing to do, but were unaware of the significance of what they were doing? What about people who have never said the prayer and don't claim to be Christians, but live a more Christlike life than some Christians?

 

This raises even more disconcerting questions about what the message even is. Some Christians believe and
 often repeat that all that matters is whether or not a person is going to heaven. Is that the message? Is that what life is about? Going somewhere else? If that's the gospel, the good news-if what Jesus does is get people
 somewhere else-then the central message of the Christian faith has very little to do with this life other than
 getting you what you need for the next one.

 

Which of course raises the question: Is that the best God can do?

 

Which leads to a far more disturbing question. So is it true that the kind of person you are doesn't ultimately 
matter, as long as you've said or prayed or believed the right things? If you truly believed that, and you 
were surrounded by Christians who believed that, then you wouldn't have much motivation to do anything
 about the present suffering of the world, because you would believe you were going to leave someday and go
 somewhere else to be with Jesus. If this understanding of the good news of Jesus prevailed among Christians, the belief that Jesus's message is about how to get somewhere else, you could possibly end up with a world in which millions of people were starving, thirsty, and poor; the earth was being exploited and polluted; disease and despair were everywhere; and Christians weren't known for doing much about it. If it got bad enough, you might even have people rejecting Jesus because of how his followers lived. That would be tragic....

 

....There are lots of different forms of "Jesus" that people portray. Many would respond to the question, "Which Jesus?" by saying that we have to trust that God will bring those who authentically represent the real Jesus into people's lives to show them the transforming truths of Jesus's life and message. A passage from Romans 10 is often quoted to explain this trust: "How can they hear without someone preaching to them?" And I wholeheartedly agree, but that raises another question. If our salvation, our future, our destiny is dependent on others bringing the message to us, teaching us, showing us-what happens if they don't do their part?

 

What if the missionary gets a flat tire?

 

This raises another, far more disturbing question: Is your future in someone else's hands?

 

Which raises another question: Is someone else's eternity resting in your hands?

 

So is it not only that a person has to respond, pray, accept, believe, trust, confess, and do-but also that 
someone else has to act, teach, travel, organize, fundraise, and build so that the person can know what to 
respond, pray, accept, believe, trust, confess, and do?

 

At this point some would step in and remind us in the midst of all of these questions that it's not that
 complicated, and we have to remember that God has lots of ways of communicating apart from people speaking to each other face-to-face; the real issue, the one that can't be avoided, is whether a person has a "personal relationship" with God through Jesus. However that happens, whoever told whomever, however it was done, that's the bottom line: a personal relationship. If you don't have that, you will die apart from God and spend eternity in torment in hell.

 

The problem, however, is that the phrase "personal relationship" is found nowhere in the Bible. nowhere in the Hebrew scriptures, nowhere in the New Testament. Jesus never used the phrase. Paul didn't use
it. Nor did John, Peter, James, or the woman who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews. So if that's it, if that's the point of it all, if that's the ticket, the center, the one unavoidable reality, the heart of the Christian faith, why is it that no one used the phrase until the last hundred years or so?

 

And that question raises another question. If the message of Jesus is that God is offering the free gift of 
eternal life through him-a gift we cannot earn by our own efforts, works, or good deeds-and all we have to do is accept and confess and believe, aren't those verbs? And aren't verbs actions? Accepting, confessing, believing-those are things we do. Does that mean, then, that going to heaven is dependent on something I do? How is any of that grace?
 How is that a gift?
 How is that good news? Isn't that what Christians have always claimed set their religion apart-that it wasn't, in the end, a religion at
all-that you don't have to do anything, because God has already done it through Jesus?

 

________________

(After this, Bell goes on to point about 18 different passage in the NT that offer about 18 different ways to "be saved" or "be in the kingdom" according to stories Jesus told and encounters Jesus had. Leaving the reader seeing the breadth of Jesus's heart for the salvation of people. By the way, not one of the 18 examples required a sinners prayer.)

_______________

 

Note: I DO NOT AGREE WITH EVERYTHING THAT IS IN THIS BOOK! Soon, I will post a review with some things that I like and some things that I don't. But for now, I wanted to share some of these deep questions because I think they put a finger on several of our unchallenged theological understandings that are rooted more in our church culture than in the Bible. At least not the one that I own.

"Love Wins" - Questions

Jesus loved to ask questions.  It is one of the things that I love so much about Him.  Rob Bell recently released a very controversial book called "Love Wins; Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Has Ever Lived."  In the introduction and first chapter of the book, he shares loads of stunning questions....questions that he has and that many of us have. I wanted to share some of the questions he posed.  Note: I will not be sharing answers.  I do not know how to answer many of them....and evidently Rob Bell doesn't either, at least not in this book. 

 

Warning: If you cannot handle hard questions about God and Faith, do NOT read this. Please read that last sentence again. 

 

So, here we go:

 

Of all the billions of people who have ever lived, only a select number will make it to "a better place" and every single other person will suffer in torment and punishment forever?  Is this acceptable to God? Has God created millions of people over tens of thousands of years who will spend eternity in anguish? Can God do this, or even allow this, and still claim to be a loving God?

 

If there are only a select few who go to heaven, which is more terrifying to fathom: the billions who burn forever or the few who escape this fate?  How does a person end up being one of the few? Chance? Luck? Random Selection? Being born in the "right" place, family or country? Having a Youth Pastor who "relates better to kids"?  What kind of faith is that?  More importantly, what kind of God is that?

 

Many people believe that there is an age at which people are smart enough and old enough to "believe" the "right" things about God.  People often refer to this as the "age of accountability".   Most think this is around 12 years old.  This brings up several questions, one being the risk that every new life then faces.  If every new baby born could grow up to NOT believe the right things and go to hell forever, then prematurely terminating a child's life anytime from conception to 12 years old would actually be the loving thing to do, guaranteeing that the child ends up in heaven, and not hell, forever. Why run the risk?

 

So, when a 15 year old atheist dies in a car accident, and missed his chance by 3 years, what happens? Was God limited to that 3 year window and if the message did not get to that young man in time, well, that is just unfortunate? And what exactly would have had to happen in that three-year window to change his future? Would he have had to perform a specific rite or ritual? Or take a class? Or be baptized? Or join a church? Or have something happen somewhere in his heart?

 

Some believe he would have had to say a specific prayer. Christians don't agree on exactly what this prayer is, but for many the essential idea is that the only way to get into heaven is to pray at some point in your life, asking God to forgive you and telling God that you accept Jesus, you believe Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for your sins, and you want to go to heaven when you die. Some call this "accepting Christ," others call it the "sinner's prayer," and still others call it "getting saved," being "born again," or being "converted."

 

That, of course, raises more questions. What about people who have said some form of "the prayer" at some point in their life, but it means nothing to them today? What about those who said it in a highly emotionally charged environment like a youth camp or church service because it was the thing to do, but were unaware of the significance of what they were doing? What about people who have never said the prayer and don't claim to be Christians, but live a more Christlike life than some Christians?

 

This raises even more disconcerting questions about what the message even is. Some Christians believe and often repeat that all that matters is whether or not a person is going to heaven. Is that the message? Is that what life is about? Going somewhere else? If that's the gospel, the good news-if what Jesus does is get people somewhere else-then the central message of the Christian faith has very little to do with this life other than getting you what you need for the next one. Which of course raises the question: Is that the best God can do?

 

Which leads to a far more disturbing question. So is it true that the kind of person you are doesn't ultimately matter, as long as you've said or prayed or believed the right things? If you truly believed that, and you were surrounded by Christians who believed that, then you wouldn't have much motivation to do anything about the present suffering of the world, because you would believe you were going to leave someday and go somewhere else to be with Jesus. If this understanding of the good news of Jesus prevailed among Christians, the belief that Jesus's message is about how to get somewhere else, you could possibly end up with a world in which millions of people were starving, thirsty, and poor; the earth was being exploited and polluted; disease and despair were everywhere; and Christians weren't known for doing much about it. If it got bad enough, you might even have people rejecting Jesus because of how his followers lived. That would be tragic....

 

....There are lots of different forms of "Jesus" that people portray.  Many would respond to the question, "Which Jesus?" by saying that we have to trust that God will bring those who authentically represent the real Jesus into people's lives to show them the transforming truths of Jesus's life and message. A passage from Romans 10 is often quoted to explain this trust: "How can they hear without someone preaching to them?" And I wholeheartedly agree, but that raises another question. If our salvation, our future, our destiny is dependent on others bringing the message to us, teaching us, showing us-what happens if they don't do their part?

 

What if the missionary gets a flat tire?

 

This raises another, far more disturbing question: Is your future in someone else's hands?

 

Which raises another question: Is someone else's eternity resting in your hands?

 

So is it not only that a person has to respond, pray, accept, believe, trust, confess, and do-but also that someone else has to act, teach, travel, organize, fundraise, and build so that the person can know what to respond, pray, accept, believe, trust, confess, and do?

 

At this point some would step in and remind us in the midst of all of these questions that it's not that complicated, and we have to remember that God has lots of ways of communicating apart from people speaking to each other face-to-face; the real issue, the one that can't be avoided, is whether a person has a "personal relationship" with God through Jesus. However that happens, whoever told whomever, however it was done, that's the bottom line: a personal relationship. If you don't have that, you will die apart from God and spend eternity in torment in hell.

 

The problem, however, is that the phrase "personal relationship" is found nowhere in the Bible. nowhere in the Hebrew scriptures, nowhere in the New Testament. Jesus never used the phrase. Paul didn't use it. Nor did John, Peter, James, or the woman who wrote the Letter to the Hebrews.

 

So if that's it, if that's the point of it all, if that's the ticket, the center, the one unavoidable reality, the heart of the Christian faith, why is it that no one used the phrase until the last hundred years or so?

 

And that question raises another question. If the message of Jesus is that God is offering the free gift of eternal life through him-a gift we cannot earn by our own efforts, works, or good deeds-and all we have to do is accept and confess and believe, aren't those verbs?

 

And aren't verbs actions? Accepting, confessing, believing-those are things we do.

 

Does that mean, then, that going to heaven is dependent on something I do?

How is any of that grace? How is that a gift? How is that good news?

Isn't that what Christians have always claimed set their religion apart-that it wasn't, in the end, a religion at all-that you don't have to do anything, because God has already done it through Jesus? 

 

 

 

 ___________________

(After this, Bell goes on to point about 18 different passage in the NT that offer about 18 different ways to "be saved" or "be in the kingdom" according to stories Jesus told and encounters Jesus had.  Leaving the reader seeing the breadth of Jesus's heart for the salvation of people.  By the way, not one of the 18 examples required a sinners prayer.)

___________________

 

Note: I DO NOT AGREE WITH EVERYTHING THAT IS IN THIS BOOK!  Soon, I will post a review with some things that I like and some things that I don't.  But for now, I wanted to share some of these deep questions because I think they put a finger on several of our unchallenged theological understandings that are rooted more in our church culture than in the Bible.  At least not the one that I own.  

Happy Birthday, Tricia!

I just hijacked Tricia's blog for her birthday and shared one of her birthday presents with all of you.  Check it out HERE!

Risk by Richard Showalter

I read this yesterday and LOVED it. It is written by Richard Showalter, the President of Easter Mennonite Missions. He is a wonderful man and this in an awesome article about risk.
Risk
Written by Richard Showalter
"There are many ways to fail. The most successful way to fail is to take no chances!”

So spoke Gary Blosser, EMM board member, in a devotional meditation at the November 2010 meeting of EMM’s Representative Council. It was a remarkably inspiring devotional, and that word about failure wouldn’t go away.

Someone recently did a poll of people in their nineties with the well-worn question, “If you had your life to live over again, what would you do differently?”

The question was predictable, but not the answers. The most frequent response of the nonagenarians: “I’d take more risks.”

That’s not the answer I would have expected. Maybe from a group of twenty-somethings, but not from these. I somehow thought that one might engage in risk until about age sixty-five, then ratchet back, keep everything more secure.

But my heart leaped. Yes! Here is a key to the liberation of the human spirit.

The very skylines of our great cities are testimony to our general lack of willingness to risk. Many of the highest buildings are built with insurance capital, a hedge against risk. If there is one word that characterizes our culture, it is “security.” It is a mark of wisdom, we think, to make sure our lives, our properties, and our loved ones are secure.

Of course, there’s something to be said for security. Yet – our hearts cry out even more deeply for the risk which accompanies commitment to a cause worth dying for. We honor with passion the Martin Luther King who proclaimed with the greatest rhetoric of twentieth century America, “I have a dream.” It was a dream worth dying for. And he did.

The church is like that, the real church of Jesus Christ. At its core is surrender to the greatest cause in the universe, the kingdom of God. With that surrender dies the fear of death itself. With it comes the joyful willingness to risk boldly for the sake of the One who risked it all for us, simultaneously granting the greatest security ever known, eternal life.

That’s why we go in mission. This risk is sometimes mocked as triumphalism, imperialism, or pure foolishness. But pay no attention to the detractors. Will we fail? Yes, we will fail.

But will we succeed? A thousand times, yes. We will succeed because the greatest cause is worth the greatest risk – again and again and again.

Gary Blosser has it right. So do the ninety-year-olds.

Actual post is here: http://emm.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=722%3Arisk&catid=...

Blackberry for Missions

 

For some odd reason, South Africa shows serious favoritism to Blackberry owners.  For the equivalent of $8.50 US a month, you get unlimited Blackberry data, emailing and texting. This is significantly less than other phones.  So, many of the missionaries here would LOVE to have a blackberry to stay in touch, however....to purchase one here is like $300-$900 US dollars.  Outrageous prices for the actual device.  

 

So, here is the question for you...do you or anyone you know have any old Blackberries laying around that you are no longer using and are willing to donate?  I know it is a stretch, but if this request yields even one, it is worth it.  

 

If you can locate one and get it to my sister Selah by April 2, she can bring it when she comes April 4.  She can be reached at selah.hunt@yahoo.com.  

 

Thank you so much!  If nothing else, can you spread the word?

Making Disciples of Oral Learners

According to this work from the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, 2/3 of the world's population can't, won't, or don't read or write. The majority of the world are oral learners, not literate learners. Hence, our entire approach to sharing the gospel needs to be revisited with this reality in mind. Instead of handing out Bibles, or even just reading them aloud, we have to rely on storying, songs, proverbs, chants, and many other mediums by which people are formed and transformed. We still tell God's story and use scripture, but we have to do it in a way that people can actually get it!
This short book (like 65 pages) is really insightful and free. Here is the link to the PDF: http://www.lausanne.org/documents/2004forum/LOP54_IG25.pdf

If you have a heart for missions and seeing the lost people of the world find Jesus, I highly recommend you check this resource out. As I read it, I was shocked that I had never heard some of this before.

Argus Bike Race- CRAZY!

Today, Cape Town hosted the world's largest bike race in the world! 108KM, 35,000 cyclists! I knew two people racing in it. So, there was a 2 in 35,000 chance that I would see someone I knew today riding in the Race. And there was a 1 in 960 chance that I would have been videoing at the time they passed. I am no math genius, but this is CRAZY that I caught Casey Prince passing us after ministry in Masi this morning. Casey is an American friend that we have met and began a relationship with here. Check out this video!

Sub-Merge

Last week I read this book. I mentioned it in a few blog posts and tweets, but I wanted to officially endorse and recommend this book to anyone with a heart for living among the poor. This book really defines the major differences between living AMONG the poor and being "ministry tourists" who pop into communities and out again at the end of the day....back to living quarters nice enough for you...because you are better than them. Frankly, it calls some of our approaches into question. It is very insightful and written from the perspective of someone who has lived incarnationally and has the stories to prove it. Great book!

SPECK

Yesterday I posted a blog about the Discovery Bible Studies that we are using as we work with people in the local communities. In it, I mentioned the "SPECK" model when working through a passage. Here is what it is:

If you are in the a DBS or looking at any passage in a group, this is a great approach to the passage:

S- Is there a SIN in this passage to avoid?
P- Are there any PROMISES or PRAYERS in this passage?
E- Is there any EXAMPLE we could follow?
C- Is there a COMMAND to obey?
K- Is there a KNOWLEDGE to retain?

One rule: If it ain't there, it ain't there! Do not force something to be there that is not there.
Try this sometime. It is really neat what you'll end up seeing.

DBS

Wanted to take a moment to teach you something that we are learning. I think that many of you back in the states may find this as something you could use when you meet in groups.
Our goal and vision with All Nations is to make disciple who make disciples and to start churches that start churches (ultimately desire to see church planting movements ignite all over the world). However, before groups become churches, they need to discover Jesus. In order to discover Jesus, we use the Bible. Radical, huh? What we aim to do is pray, enter, build relationships and start Discover Bible Studies (DBS). These are time in groups around scripture that are designed to be led by locals and lead people toward discovering Jesus on their own. DBS model was started by David Watson. All Nations is not committed to a model, just the values the model holds.

We are finding DBS's to be a brilliant tool and have already started numerous in Masi. I wanted to share it with you.
Leadership: Everyone. One person facilitates the steps, but as you will see, it is shared leadership. So, here we go...

1. What is one thing that you are really thankful for today? (everyone shares in this time of expressing praise, worship and gratitude to God in our sharing)

2. What is the greatest need that you have in your life today? (everyone shares as openly as they can)

3. Is there anyone that can meet any of these needs we just heard? (In keeping with Acts 2, perhaps they can meet the need right now, after the meeting or sometime in the days or week to come)

4. Pray....thanking God for what we have heard and placing our needs in His capable care.

5. (having pre-selected a passage 2-10 verses long...) Open the word to the passage for the day and have 2 or 3 people read all the verses.

6. Close the Bible and have 2-3 people put it in their own words. What was the passage saying? Then, others fill it in more.

7. Taking 1-2 verses at a time, ask these two question of each verse: 1) What does this say about God? and 2) What does this say about man? (or use the SPECK model which I will blog later)

8. What WILL I obey as a result of this passage? Be specific. (All Share)

9. When will we meet next and who will lead us?

There are loads of intentional values built into this approach to gathering. Here are just a few:
-Anyone can lead.
-All people participate every time.
-The passage and group self corrects the conversation.
-Pre-Christians can do this.
-It includes worship to God and relationship with others. -It creates a Bible-centered gathering.
-It shows people that they can study and learn the Bible themselves.
-It teaches people that they do not need a qualified Pastor or Teacher to learn the Bible.
-It allows space for Jesus and the Holy Spirit to lead a gathering.

The goal is that DBS's become churches when the DBS begins welcoming Jesus into their lives and baptizing one another.

Is Going Better Than Giving?

Not a day goes by that Tricia and I do not feel thankful for the many people and churches making it possible for us to be here. Seriously, we are eternally thankful for you who financially support us! As most of you know, much of our work is with people that are quite poor. And you know, It is amazing how many different weird attitudes develop among an issue as precious and important as serving the poor.

I have heard attitudes and comments surface around the issue of financial giving that are just not biblical. Multiple times I have heard people say something like this: "I want to do more than just write a check." The implication here is that direct ministry to the poor is more valuable than indirect ministry. Where does the Bible established this kind of system? Certainly Jesus warns that when we give to the poor, we should not attract attention to ourselves (Matthew 6: 23-24). But Jesus does not diminish giving as a form of help for the needy. It is discouraging when people create these informal hierarchies that are extra-biblical. They only help to discourage those who want to help in this way.

Let me go on record saying that I believe that giving financially to people in need (and to support those on mission to poor) is every bit as Biblical as going. If there are not senders, there will not be go-ers! If you are called to go, GO! If you are called to give, GIVE!

Meeting Needs or Meeting People?

Today, I finished a book called "Sub-Merge" that addressed living incarnationally among the poor. In it, the author said something that I have often felt inside, but did not have the language to verbalize. In a part of the book focussed on meeting the felt needs of people. He said this:

Missionaries can spring into action in response to a need, assuming they have an empowering attitude; but in their haste to meet needs, they communicate that getting to the problem is more critical than getting to know people for themselves and working together toward solving the problems. When missionaries start with the need, hoping they will one day get to know the poor people personally, they are likely to be found 10 years later still addressing the same need. They are welcomed, even necessary outsiders, but outsiders nonetheless. On the other hand when mission workers start with poor people in empowering relationships, they are likely to get to the problems, together with the poor. The work typically starts slower and looks less impressive when relationship is prioritized before attention to the need, but it is more likely to be owned and reproduced by the poor themselves and, as a result have a much longer lifespan.

If we believe this, it really changes how we approach our work in poor communities and in many of our relationships. What are your thoughts?

Disciple to Convert

Over time, Tricia and I want to be sharing with you some of what we are learning here in South Africa. Our primary vision and calling while we are here is to rethink and re-imagine church…to sort through our many questions hoping to give our lives to seeing church be all that Jesus dreams of. Over time, there will be key blogs and sharing that capture the heart of our learnings. This is one.

Disciple to Convert:

For much of our lives, it was glaringly clear that the first goal in ministering to a lost person was to get them saved. Evangelism. Once a person “accepts” Jesus (as if all Jesus wants is to be accepted), then, and only then do we begin actively discipling them. Church that we are envisioning looks more like what Jesus modeled with his disciples. Disciple first, convert later. We start discipling people the moment that we meet them with the understanding that the Lord has already been at work in their lives before they were even born (Jer. 1:5).

So, in summary, we are learning that we disciple to convert. We do not convert to disciple. And we leave the timing of their growth and commitment journey up to God. It’s just a paradigm shift. But it is one that changes how we minister.

Forgiving the Lord

Yesterday I was in a conversation with a new friend of mine and we stumbled upon a pretty powerful, but strange realization. You know, we often hear that people are having a hard time receiving forgiveness from the Lord. But I think the opposite is also quite common.

Some of us need to forgive God!
Hold on, Noah. God is perfect. He never did anything wrong that needs forgiven. True. But whether he did anything wrong or not, I think that some people need to forgive him in their hearts, stop blaming him for their problems and love him the way he wants to and deserves to be loved.
Interesting to me that the Lord seems to be the first one that people point the finger at when tragedy strikes or life seems to be falling apart. Folks submit the common complaints like: "If God loved me, why does he let all this happen?"

Let me submit this challenge to those of you that do not really love Jesus yet, but like to blame him: If he is real enough to blame, than he is real enough to love!

So, I encourage you....maybe you need to forgive God and then receive the forgiveness that He has already offered you.

Third World Authors

While reading a recent book, I came across this statement of challenge from the author: "We need to broaden our reading from the western theologians who dominate the academic landscape to the third world theologians are trying to work out what it means to follow God without our first world assumptions."

When I read this I was intrigued and curious. True. I read almost all American and European authors. And I would like that to change.
So....who can you recommend? Name some authors and some books. Thanks!

A Big Day for Davis!

Today was a big day for Davis! Tuesday his balance bike broke in half. Yesterday, we went out and got him a new bike with the birthday money he had saved. Today, only 24 hours after purchasing the bike, here he is....riding away! I confess...I cried a little. I was just overwhelmed at the whole thing. This cannot be possible. He was just born.

The Incarcerated Ibuprofen

We often run into some funny cultural stuff-- too many to share. But here's one I've gotta share.

I walked into the drug store to get Advil. They don't have it. They have something equivalent. Evidently. But it's behind the pharmacist counter in a section called "self-medication". However, you may not help yourself so I learned. The Pharmacist must give you your ibuprofen. But before giving it to you, he first must obey South African law by bagging it, tagging it, placing it in a carrying cage and zip tying the cage shut-- just in case you feel really tempted to open up your Ibuprofen and take a few on your way to the till (cash register).

I was worried you would think I made this up, so I took a picture.