Helping the earthquake victims in Nepal

/in /by

Do you want to help the earthquake victims in Nepal?

We partner with the United Mission to Nepal (UMN) and the UMN is set to help the victims. Donations can be made to UMN through Interserve. You can donate on our website (use the link below) or send a check to Interserve USA, PO Box 418, Upper Darby, PA 19082. The account number for UMN is 576073; the description is UMN.

https://secure-q.net/donations/Interserve/1240

This is a letter from the United Mission to Nepal about the earthquake and its immediate aftermath:

Dear Friends,

Nepal is still reeling from the impacts of the 7.9 earthquake that hit the country just before noon on Saturday. We thank God that all UMN staff and sites are reported as safe. All expatriate staff (with the exception of three in Okhaldhunga) were in Pokhara for the annual Expatriates’ Retreat. A small group, including Executive Director Mark Galpin, was able to return to Kathmandu on Sunday evening. Mark will be co-ordinating UMN’s response from there.

There are no reports of damage from Tansen or Okhaldhunga; Dhading district has suffered significant damage and some loss of life. Our Headquarters property in Kathmandu appears to be structurally sound, although there is damage to some equipment. We hope to be providing regular updates on our Website and Facebook pages from today, once server and power problems are resolved.

UMN will be providing staff with expertise to other agencies, in accordance with our emergency plans and as appropriate. We expect that longer-term involvement will be focused on Dhading. Two of our medical staff from Tansen will be travelling to assist at the HDCS hospital at Lamjung today, and two others will be joining an INF medical team in Gorkha. Please pray for their safety.

Please pray:
– for our staff, particularly those from Kathmandu who live out in the cluster areas, and are concerned about family and friends in the capital.
– for people living in Kathmandu, who are frightened, who may have lost loved ones, and who are facing shortages of water, electricity and food.
– for Mark and Binod Awale, our Disaster Reponse advisor, and other key staff as they co-ordinate our response.
– for our Supporting Partners, as they consider their response.

Again, donations can be made to UMN via Interserve USA. You can donate on our website (use the link below) or send a check to Interserve USA, PO Box 418, Upper Darby, PA 19082. The account number for UMN is 576073; the description is UMN.

https://secure-q.net/donations/Interserve/1240

Serving with the Church

/in /by

Christine-rsChristine Gobius, National Director of Interserve Australia, has shared her story in the most recent edition of BST Connect from the Brisbane School of Theology. Christine, along with many of our Partners and On Trackers, has appreciated time spent learning and growing at BST in preparation for ministry. Read her story here…

Six years ago I was leading a research team in Military and Veterans’ health at the University of Queensland; a role that exposed me to the personal side of military deployments and the challenges of bridging an academic and military culture. It was a stretching yet rewarding climax to a public health career that spanned 15 years in Government and University. Now I am serving as the National Director of Interserve and it is a privilege to pursue my passion for transformation of people’s lives in this new context.

I grew up in a Christian home, in a remote Aboriginal community. As a teenager I resisted a personal relationship with God partly because I didn’t want to be a missionary and I ‘knew’ that it would be just my luck that I would be called to give up the good life to serve God overseas. However, God’s love and grace was irresistible and by the time I was at university my desire to serve developed, as did a vision for holistic mission. I loved the outdoors and wanted practical skills, so I chose to study vet science.

I gained a lot of experience while working as a rural vet practitioner. But I wanted to be better equipped for cross-cultural mission, so I took a year off in 1990 and studied at BST. At Bible college I was introduced to Interserve, and had an opportunity to go on short-term mission with them to Asia between 1992-93. After that I spent many years investigating a disease that impacts both cattle and human health, and subsequently worked in a research and advisory role for Queensland Health. My plans to live and serve overseas as a missionary didn’t happen.

But I maintained my connection with Interserve and was appointed as a board member in 2006. I had adopted their vision of “lives and communities transformed through encounter with Jesus Christ”. I realised that every part of our lives as Christians – who we are, our actions, deeds, relationships, and our words – bears witness to God.

In my role with Interserve as National Director, my biggest focus is developing ways to work with the church. The church exists in every country we work, even in the most difficult countries where those believers may be operating “underground”.

Our end goal is to do all that we can to enable the local church, though it might have a different format for different places. The kinds of questions we ask ourselves are, “What is God doing in that place?” and “What can we do to be part of what He is doing?” We want to empower the local church. We also want to partner with the local church in Australia and enable them to better equip and support those they send.

My other focus is encouraging the church to grow disciples for holistic mission; recognising that people are social, emotional, physical and spiritual beings. Our Western Christianity is so impacted by a dualism that artificially separates the spiritual and material. But an encounter with Jesus touches on all these aspects of our lives.

If we claim to follow Jesus, then who we are and everything we do is a witness to Him, whether we intend it or not. Holistic mission is taking that witness seriously. It considers questions like: “Is how we are engaging reflecting the Kingdom of God?”, “Do our relationships really reflect the grace, mercy, justice and love of God?”, “Is the Holy Spirit and the power of prayer active in all aspects of our lives?”, “Is it apparent to others?” We will be less effective in proclaiming the gospel if those things are not taken seriously.

Read more about BST and opportunities to study on their website.

The fruit and joy of gospel mission: the church

/in /by

Stuart Coulton is the Principal of Sydney Missionary and Bible College (SMBC). He was key-note speaker at the Interserve Encounters Conference in New South Wales in July 2014. This is an extract of his address.

Paul’s first letter to the church in Thessalonica reveals both the fruit of gospel mission – the community of God’s people, the Church; and also the joy of gospel mission – the community of God’s people, the Church!

In 1 Thessalonians 1:3 Paul picks up a common theme: faith, love and hope. “We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” John Calvin called this “a brief definition of true Christianity”.

Firstly, the Thessalonians had faith which produced work. It was by God’s grace that they were saved – through faith. But genuine faith produces genuine good works that adorn the gospel.

Secondly, they had love which produced labour. The difference between work and labour is more rhetorical than substantial; however, labour here carries with it the idea of weariness, an exhaustion that flows from hard and unceasing labour. That is helpful; the labour produced by love wears itself out for others.

We don’t know what that actually looked like in the Thessalonian context but there was something conspicuous about their love because news of it spread throughout the region. Whether it was forgiving those who wronged them; treating women with respect in a society that generally did not; caring for the poor; making themselves servants of others; replacing anger with gentleness, malice with kindness and greed with generosity – the opportunities for love were everywhere.

Thirdly, they had hope. Every chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonian church draws to a close with Paul speaking of the return of Jesus (1:10, 2:19, 3:13, 4:17, 5:23). Our Christian hope is not incidental to our faith. Our hope produces endurance that endures hardship and persecution for the sake of an eternal crown.

 

How did this all happen?

The gospel was preached to them (1:5). It is the gospel that motivates and shapes all Christian behaviour. Our future pastors and church planters, church workers and cross-cultural missionaries, those we send out to overseas mission field and we ourselves must be men and women who are Christ centred, gospel centred.

The Holy Spirit came with power (1:5). John Stott said:

  • We must never divorce what God has married.
  • The Word of God is the Spirit’s sword.
  • The Spirit without the Word is weaponless;
  • The Word without the Spirit is powerless.[1]

 

FRUIT: the result of Spirit-anointed gospel ministry

The Thessalonian community turned from their worship of idols to serve the living true God! (1:9). A fundamental reorientation occurred that changed forever the direction and character of their lives.

They became imitators of Christ (1:6). What a stunning evidence of faith in Jesus! Love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, self-control, goodness, kindness, faithfulness. People who had led self-centred lives, lives that ignored even rebelled against God, were now living lives that yielded the fruit of the Spirit.

They became a model to others (1:7–8). Like the sound of a trumpet or the roll of thunder that reverberates through the mountains in an echo, so the model of faith set by the Thessalonians as they imitated (mimicked) the Lord Jesus reverberated everywhere!

When the north-African city of Alexandria was stricken with plague in the middle of the 3rd century, Dionysius a Christian bishop wrote that:

Most of our brother-Christians showed unbounded love and loyalty, never sparing themselves and thinking only of one another. Heedless of the danger, they took charge of the sick…drawing on themselves the sickness of their neighbours and cheerfully accepting their pains. Many, in nursing and curing others, transferred their death to themselves and died in their stead … The best of our brothers lost their lives in this manner … The heathen behaved in the very opposite way. At the first onset of the disease they pushed the sufferers away and fled … treating unburied corpses as dirt, hoping thereby to avert the spread and contagion of the fatal disease… (HE 7; 22:10)

 Even the 4th century non-Christian Roman Emperor Julian complained that Christians cared not only for their own poor but for the unbelieving poor also: a community of God’s people, born out of gospel preaching by the power of God’s Holy Spirit.

 

JOY: Paul rejoices in the church

 It is this community of God’s people, the church, which is the source and focus of Paul’s joy. In the New Testament the Church is spoken of as the body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, sheep for whom the shepherd lays down his life, God’s own family, His adoptive sons and daughters. God’s affection for His people, His love for the church is everywhere in the Scriptures. And Paul shares something of that affection. Notice the language he uses:

In 1 Thessalonians 2, Paul uses the imagery of both mother (vs 7) and father (vs 11–12) to speak of his relationship with the believers in Thessalonica. He writes that, “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us” (2:8).

Later in chapter 2 Paul speaks of being torn away and of his intense longing (2:17) for the community of believers, and describes the church as “our hope, our joy … the crown in which we will glory …” (2:19).

It is the language of love! And it is the church that Paul is speaking of. Is that how you feel about the community of God’s people, formed out of the preaching of the gospel and by the power of the Spirit?

So what is the reason for Paul’s joy? Paul sees the church not from a human point of view but from God’s point of view. His perspective is an eternal, heavenly one rather than a temporary and earthly view.

 

PRAYER: the fruit of joy

 Finally, what is the fruit of joy? In 2:17–3:8 Paul has been describing the deep-hearted affection he has for the church, his fears for their well-being when persecution forced him and his companions to leave at short notice, and his perspective on the church as a work that will last into eternity.

In 3:9–13, Paul prays! The fruit of our joy in the community of God’s people is prayer (3:9). Notice the substance of his prayers:

  • the opportunity to visit and supply what is lacking in their faith (vs 10–11)
  • increased love for one another such that it breaks the banks and overflows to deluge everyone (vs 12)
  • strength to be holy and blameless as they wait for the return of Jesus (vs 13).

These are big pastoral prayers that will have an eternal impact. Paul’s prayer is a reminder that it is our work as Christian men and women to pray.

JI Packer says, “… prayer is the measure of the man, spiritually, in a way that nothing else is, so that how we pray is as important a question as we can ever face”.[2]

 

[1] John Stott, The Message of Thessalonians (Leicester, UK: IVP, 1991), 34.

[2] JI Packer, in My Path of Prayer, David Hanes, ed. (Worthing, West Sussex: Henry E Walter, 1981), 56.

Reframing our Self-Image

/in /by

What is your image of who you are? What shapes your self-image?

Our self-image often ends up being a bit skewed- one sided. I don’t know about you, but I often tend to focus on my sinfulness. And if we are honest, who in the human race is not a sinner?

But, what we tend to forget is that as believers, when we do what is wrong (get angry, disrespect someone, etc.), we feel convicted and we mourn. Due to our mourning we turn to the Lord and ask for forgiveness. And what does Jesus say to us in response? He says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

There is a lot of meaning in that beatitude- meaning that we often miss.

When we turn to Jesus in sorrow for our sin he fully embraces us, and in love he forgives and accepts us.

But from Jesus’ side, there is more happening here that we may miss.

William Barclay points out that the Greek word for “comfort” means so much more than console. It also means to summon to one’s side as an ally, as a helper, and as a witness.

God in forgiving us does not treat us as if he cannot ever trust us again. He restores us as his allies, his helpers, and his witnesses in the world.

Think about it- God sends us back into the field of our defeat in the certainty that his grace can turn our past defeat into future victory.

But this is not all.  In addition, Barclay points out that the Greek word for comfort also means to energize. God energizes us, fills us with new courage, new thoughts, and adventure; and God calls us to step up and seize the challenge that he places before us. The challenge is to be the living representatives of his holiness, presence and love in our world.

The Temple and the Curtain

In Matthew 27:51- when Jesus died, we read that the curtain in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. We typically understand this as God tearing the curtain down making the way open so that we are able to enter the presence of God through the body of Jesus. Hebrews 10:19-22 says:
19 Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Yet, this is not the only thing that happened when God tore that curtain! Think about what the temple and the curtain symbolized. The temple surely symbolized God’s holiness in a powerful way, but it also symbolized his presence among his people, and the temple and the nation of Israel represented his redemptive love for his world.

So, something else happened when God tore the curtain from top to bottom. With the tearing of the curtain from top to bottom, God was also saying: “I am done with this symbol. I am breaking away from these stones and I am going to break out into my world in a whole new way- through my people who will be the living symbols of my holiness, presence and love. This is what we see happening in Acts 2! When the Spirit descended upon the disciples, the shekinah glory appeared as tongues of fire on each one, highlighting Jesus’ call for them (and us) to be the light of the world (see Matthew 5)!

And Acts 2 was only a beginning. When we turned to Christ the shekinah glory descended upon each one of us and the light of God radiates through us into God’s world.

What we tend to forget is that we are living representatives of God’s holiness, presence, and redemptive love in this world. We are individually and corporately living temples of God spread abroad throughout the world to demonstrate his holiness, presence and redemptive love! Why else does Paul call us holy ones, saints?

What tends to obscure this truth is that we hold this wonderful treasure in fallen, imperfect earthen vessels. Yes, we are sinners, but we are much more than that. We are temples of the living God.

This is something that God has done. We cannot earn this, this is his free gift to us. We are justified, we are born from above, we are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that we may proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

Does this help you reshape how you see yourself as you live out your life in your community and in His world? I hope so.

How are we to react when we experience opposition?

/in /by

Our Interserve Partners work in restricted access areas. We call these areas The Hard Places. This is because there is a degree of opposition to biblical faith and to Jesus’ followers in these areas. I encountered this opposition. Though most people were kind and incredibly hospitable, a minority viewed me with a bit of hostility. There were a few times when I was spit upon, hit, and even threatened. Guns were pulled on me. My son was in a school that was attacked by terrorists. So, I am not unacquainted with opposition.

Whenever I faced it and whenever our Partners face this, we often find ourselves asking: How does Jesus want us to respond to this when it happens?

I think the opening six chapters of Luke give us a good idea.

In his first chapters Luke shows us that Jesus encountered a gradually increasing level of opposition. The opposition begins in Nazareth where Jesus’ own townspeople resent him and even try to kill him (4:16-29). With no explanation given, Jesus is able to walk right out of that danger and goes on his way (4:30). This encounter in Nazareth serves as a portent, preparing us for Jesus’ rejection by his own people and his demise on the cross.

In this vein and from this point onward Luke shows us that Jesus encountered an increasing level of opposition to his ministry. It grows out of his interaction with the paralytic (5:17-26). The opposition increases when Jesus eats at Levi’s house along with a large crowd of tax collectors (5:29-32) and also when Jesus heals the man with a withered hand (6-11). Luke points out the heightening of the tension by describing the reaction of the scribes and Pharisees. They were filled with fury.

Immediately after this Jesus chooses the 12 disciples. Yet, even in the choosing of the twelve Luke keeps the theme of opposition alive by concluding the selection with the dark comment that Judas, one of the twelve insiders, will eventually betray Jesus. In this way, Luke fully establishes the story of Jesus as one of growing opposition.

Immediately after this Jesus heals and frees from evil spirits all who come to him (6:17-19). These healings and deliverances serve to demonstrate that the kingdom of God (see Luke 1:33 and 4:43) is arriving.

This context of growing opposition sets the interpretive framework for Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain.

Due to the similarity of content, this sermon is often compared with Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount. In making this comparison, John Stott and Craig Evans (among many others) acknowledge that the Sermon on the Plain exhibits a different concern than the Sermon on the Mount. Stott and Evans feel that Luke is concerned with the economically marginalized whereas Matthew is concerned for those who are spiritually poor. In this vein Craig Evans writes: “Hunger and weeping are not to be considered as separate conditions from poverty but as characteristic manifestations of poverty” (Evans, Craig. Luke 1:1-9:20. Vol. 35A, Word Biblical Commentary).

Even though this is a standard comparison and interpretation of the beatitudes in the Sermon on the Plain, I think the comparison and the interpretation is somewhat flawed. The interpreters appear to be missing sight of the bigger context in which the sermon is placed. The Sermon on the Plain appears in this context of growing opposition to Jesus. Cognizant of the consequences and the implications of this growing opposition, Jesus teaches his disciples how they should respond to such opposition as his followers. It is almost guaranteed that they will face opposition because they are his followers.

One of the consequences of the opposition they will face is that will become poor. In addition, due to the opposition they will suffer and weep. These are the two beatitudes that Jesus introduces. And then he talks about how blessed it is for them to be treated so.

Notice what he says in Luke 6:20-26:.

20Then he looked up at his disciples and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
22“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
24“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
25“Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.
“Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.
26“ Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

Clearly Jesus’ disciples are to rejoice over their suffering they encounter. In contrast, those who oppose Jesus’ disciples will face torment. However, dishing out a just dessert to these tormentors is not God’s desire. This is why Jesus’ disciples are to demonstrate a completely different attitude toward suffering, and they are to respond in love and in kindness to their tormentors. This is also why Jesus immediately goes on to say that his disciples are to love their enemies (6:27-36). And this is why Jesus winds up by saying that his disciples are to be merciful as their Heavenly Father is merciful.

Then Jesus goes on to teach his disciples how to live in this difficult world (6:37-38).

Jesus knows that this is so counterintuitive. It will be only natural for the tormented to tell their tormentors how wrong they are. This is why Jesus tells his disciples that when they are tempted to do this, they are to pull the log out of their own eyes and leave the speck alone in their tormentors’ eyes.

Knowing that his followers will face opposition, Jesus says that his disciples are not greater than their teacher in verse 40: A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.

Why else does Jesus wind up his sermon with verses 46 to 49. In these verses we read that those who hear and obey his words, they are the ones who build their houses upon a firm foundation.

Responding like Christ to opposition is not easy. But think- it wasn’t easy for Jesus either. The Gospel of Luke teaches us that Jesus didn’t live on his own power. He depended upon the power of the Spirit. In this way Jesus showed us the way we can live up to the standards he set: by absolute dependence on God’s Spirit. And who is the one who gives the Spirit? See Luke 11:13!

How to pray for mission

/in /by

Jesus first asked Peter, “Do you love me?” and then said to him, “Feed my sheep”. Missionaries leave home, family, friends and comfort, not because the sheep are lovely, or even because they are in need, but rather because they love the Shepherd.

But following the Shepherd in his mission involves both personal risk and sacrifice. A decision to serve in some locations means sending children away to boarding school. In others, it means living with some risk to personal safety.

How do we pray for missionaries in these situations? They are not there for their own health or safety, so that should not be our over-riding concern either. Rather, they want God’s will to be done, and so we should pray in conformity with their own priorities.

Pray firstly for the salvation of those they are sent to, and then for their safety. Listen to Paul’s priorities in his prayer requests:

 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. Ephesians 6:19-20

 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Colossians 4:3-4

 Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith. 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2

 Paul’s first concern is the Gospel of Jesus. Is that our first concern? Paul is not unaware of his own hardships, however, and also wants us to pray about them too.

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 2 Corinthians 1:8

It often seems that Pakistan is descending into chaos; that the sun is setting on that land. In Peshawar, 139 Christians were killed in a double suicide attack on a church. But, in the same week that the Marriott Hotel was blown up in Islamabad, and embassies and airlines started evacuating, a new family with small children arrived at the school. God hadn’t given up on Pakistan. We need to pray like Joshua that the sun will stay up, so that more people can be won for Jesus.

Let us also seek God’s heart for our own part in this work. Indeed, the needs can seem so overwhelming that we might wonder if we can make a difference. Jesus says, “Lift up your eyes, for the fields are white to harvest, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers”. When we offer ourselves, Jesus gives thanks to the Lord of the harvest, blesses what we give, and breaks it and hands it out to feed others. So, worship Jesus in every choice you make every day, pray to the lord of the harvest to send out workers, and in love for Jesus say “Here am I, send me”.

 

The author is an Interserve Partner who served in Pakistan at a boarding school for missionary children.

The Tragic Reality of Violence

/in /by

The news over the past few weeks has been exceptionally tragic. We had the tragic downing of the Malaysian Airlines jet (MH17), the brutal conflict in eastern Ukraine, horrific attacks by the Boko Haram in Nigeria, the exodus of the Christians in Mosul, and the ongoing conflict in Gaza. And this is not all!

I have been studying the book of Joshua over the past few weeks. In the course of my readings, one commentator makes a point I never had seen before. He pointed out that when sin entered the world one of the ways sin manifested itself was in violence. This is what the commentator wrote:

“The biblical story of humanity becomes very quickly a story of sinful rebellion against God, and the heart of this sinfulness is not sex as often imagined, but violence. Violence asserts itself primevally in Cain’s brutal murder of his innocent brother Abel, a paradigm for all the cruel ruthlessness in the world that sets the life of the other at nought…Cain’s murderous act escalated to Lamech’s murderous habit. It is the violence of humanity that precipitates the flood; violence is the sin of Sodom; the reign of Pharaoh is violence enshrined n the apparatus of state. Violence cannot be removed from the record because it belongs intrinsically to it” (McConville and Williams 2010, “Joshua”, p. 189).

The news over the past few weeks shows us that not much has changed with humanity. Violence continues to characterize much of the human story.

As I read this, we face a particular challenge as the people of God. Can we create and model communities of peace, communities that reflect the gracious reign of The Prince of Peace?

As we create communities that reflect the gracious and peace loving character of God, what we do in our localities will have a global impact. This is because we were created to be communities that have a global impact. Why else did Jesus teach us to pray: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We are hardwired as the people of God to think globally and have a global impact.

Let us strive to live at peace with one another (Hebrews 12:14), and as we do this let us pray that our actions have a rippling effect, reaching to the farthest corners of the earth!

How do we disagree?

/in /by

I get asked a lot what it is like to return to the US after living overseas for so many years. They are wondering if I have any culture shock in coming back. The truth is: I do. One thing that shocks me is the acerbic nature of how some followers of Jesus interact with those who hold differing views.

As I see it, we humans are always going to disagree on something. Some of these “things” are important, and some are not so important. Disagreeing about “things” is natural. One of the ways we as followers of Christ are to stand out and reflect the glory of God is the manner in which we express our differing ideas.

Think about it. Although Jesus did not come to inaugurate a new religion, he did come and challenge the ways people lived out their faith. So, Jesus challenged and continues to challenge everyone- the religious and the non-religious.

If anyone had a right to be acerbic, it was Jesus. And he was at times. Yet, even though he was acerbic at times, John, one of the sons of thunder, describes Jesus – not as the acerbic Messiah – but in a totally contrary way: “And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only one from the Father, full of grace and truth…And of his fulness we have all received, grace upon grace (John 1:14, 16).

Why does John emphasize grace as one of the prevailing characteristics of Jesus? What did John see that so many of us have missed? Paul’s advice in Colossians resonates with John’s description of Jesus: “Let your speech always be seasoned with salt.”

Why is this even important?

We live in a fallen world where people – who are made in God’s image and whom God loves intensely – are put down in innumerable ways. Who else can express the intense love that God has for them except his own people, those in whom he has poured out his Spirit? How can we express God’s intense love when we demean each other in our “acerbic” discussions. I know that some feel that they are upholding “truth”, yet, it appears to be done in ways that are quite shocking to me.

Why have I been shocked?

The primary reason Moses could not go into the Promised Land was because he verbally abused God’s people (Num 20:10-13; Deut 3:23-29). Now, Moses did strike the rock twice which was wrong. Yet, this is not the reason Moses gave for why he couldn’t enter the land. In Numbers 20:12 God objected because Moses hadn’t treated God as holy. In Deuteronomy 3:36 Moses elaborates on this. He said to the Israelites: “The Lord was angry with me because of you.” When we put these two accounts together, it appears that the point was this: Moses did not treat God as holy because he expressed his own anger towards God’s people, an anger that misrepresented God’s character, and it was an anger that demeaned God’s people. God defended his people from Moses’ abuse by not allowing him to enter the Promised Land.

So, here in the NT we have John, a son of thunder, who has developed a deep understanding of the grace of Jesus, an understanding that he had not previously demonstrated. Remember, John was one of the men who asked Jesus to rain down fire upon the Samaritans for their rejection of Jesus (Luke 9:51-56), and yet, in total contrast to that, he is the one who when writing his gospel includes the stories of Jesus’ grace to the outcast Samaritan woman (John 4) and to the the invalid man of dubious character who had no one to help him (John 5). The Spirit had evidently used these interactions of Jesus to transform John’s perspective of how he was and we are to live. These were stories that exemplified the graciousness of our Creator-Redeemer so much that John recorded them so the Spirit could use them for our benefit as well.

I am still a work in process, learning to integrate the beauty of these stories into my life and my relationships. I pray that I will improve and reflect the Lord more clearly. There truly is no one more lovely, more wonderful, than our Lord.

Avoiding the hole in holism

/in /by

In his book, Change Across Cultures, Bruce Bradshaw writes: The Church’s outreach in the 19th and 20th centuries resulted in the planting of churches around the world. It was less successful, however, in transforming the societies in which people lived. Poverty, injustice, corruption, violence, and oppression continued unchecked in much of the world, despite the growth of the church.

The Church’s emphasis on church planting grew up in a cultural context. Western cultures had been shaped by modernity, leading the Church to overemphasize individualism. This overemphasis led to the development of a personalised gospel which ignored the significance of social and cultural systems. This overemphasized individualism missed the fact that God is concerned about transforming our relationships with Himself, with each another, and with His creation- not just sign us up for a hassle-free eternity.

The tragedy in Rwanda and Burundi exemplified this flawed tendency toward individualising faith. The church planting work in these two countries had been tremendously “successful” in the 1970s and 1980s. Yet, many of the people in these new churches participated in the ensuing genocide. This lack of transformation in communities has also been seen in places like Pakistan, where churches have been planted but it appears that little viable transformation has occurred in believing communities. Western countries also contain many examples of individual faith not impacting communities. One such example is the incidence of divorce amongst Christians and non-Christians. The rate is sadly similar.

In the 1970s and 1980s holism grew as an alternative model to church planting. Holism inspired people to use their careers and skills to reveal the love of God and help communities develop. Holism as a paradigm for overseas engagement drew from the principles of international development. After World War II western nations opportunities for development work exploded. Yet, a problem developed within the holistic movement. People gradually depended on their work to be their witness. Thus, talking about one’s faith was deemed unnecessary. As a result holism degenerated into Donut Holism (holism without the core). Donut holism expects the kingdom of God to be realised without people encountering the King.

To correct the weaknesses of holism and church planting, wholism (or integral mission) emerged in the late 1990s. Wholism is the ‘whole gospel for the whole person.’ It seeks to avoid putting faith, life, work and ministry in separate categories and it embraces the broadening understanding of what constitutes the church’s mission (empowerment of the poor, advocacy for the marginalised and disadvantaged, stopping human trafficking, etc). Wholism intentionally integrates people’s faith into their lives and into their work. The goal of wholism is to see individuals and families encounter Christ and communities of faith established, while also working intentionally to see these individuals, families, and communities transformed spiritually, socially, economically, and physically.

Interserve is committed to wholism. When we are truly wholistic we will not allow our efforts to be reduced to accomplishing numerically measurable targets. The goal in wholism is to intentionally impact communities so that they are either in the kingdom and living out the kingdom, or moving toward the King and his kingdom in significant ways.

‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.’

Jesus’ words in Matt 5:16 give no doubt that the disciples of Jesus will do good works. There is also no doubt that these works should be done in such a way that people understand why they are being done – to give praise to God.

Therefore, wholism leaves us with a dual challenge: to be Jesus’ representatives through our actions and be his spokespersons through our words. We are to live and speak in ways that enable others to become disciples who in turn live and speak and ways that enable others to become disciples.

Does this energize you? Do you want to know how to go about this even in the spaces and relationships of your life here in the US? If so, contact us!

Ordinary People doing Extraordinary Things

/in /by

Those who walk with God through life discover one incredible truth. Ordinary people end up doing extraordinary things. Think about it. Abraham and Sarah were in their 70s and they had no children. In following the Lord they helped shaped the course of human history. Not bad for an elderly couple who couldn’t have children.

They are not included in the biblical story for us to think that they were extraordinary. They are there because they were absolutely weak. How did Paul describe Abraham in Romans 4:19-21? He wrote:

He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

Ordinary people who do extraordinary things are those who follow the Lord and allow Him to shape their heart, their desires, their thoughts, their passions.

Here is a link to an ordinary man; but, because he walked with God he ended up doing extraordinary things. How did he do these things? He simply followed…

But before you click- get prepared. It is powerful.