Brennan Manning On What It Means To Be A Christian

Photo Credit: Guppydas

Taken from Brennan Manning's The Furious Longing of God:

“The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creation. Not to make people with better morals but to create a community of prophets and professional lovers, men and women who would surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within, who would live in ever greater fidelity to the omnipresent Word of God, who would enter into the center of it all, the very heart and mystery of Christ, into the center of the flame that consumes, purifies, and sets everything aglow with peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love. This, my friend, is what it really means to be a Christian.”

Five Tips For Cross-Cultural Missionaries Within the U.S.

With some of my favorite people in 2010

When I first entered into vocational Christian ministry over twenty years ago, I had no idea of the personal growth path to which I was embarking and had no thought of the various ways that God would work in and through me in the ensuing years.

One of the most significant ways that I have seen God work in my life is in responding to His call to work cross-culturally within my own country and, more specifically, within the African American community through my time on the staff of The Impact Movement.

Although I'm unsure of the exact percentages, I know that there are a fairly small number of missionaries serving within the U.S. that are serving in a primarily cross-cultural context. For staff members in national campus ministries like the one with which I serve, Cru, most spend the bulk of their time ministering to those that are from a similar ethnic background.

As the Lord has taken me on this journey of ministering cross-culturally within the United States, there are several lessons I've learned along the way. Here are five tips for those who are ministering cross-culturally:

1. Be Yourself

Some of the best advice I received when I first began ministering among African American students was simply to "be myself." What others meant when offering this nugget of wisdom was that I didn't need to try to be someone I wasn't in order to impress or prove myself to black students. What was most important was that I needed to love those I was seeking to connect with and carry myself with humility and grace. I didn't need to try to "fit in" by adopting a hip hop style of dress, clumsily incorporating black slang into my conversation or pretending I had knowledge of black culture that I didn't yet possess. If I was perceived as being phony, then my credibility would go out the window.

While being aware of cultural values is important (see point #2 below), we missionaries can succumb to treading on cultural stereotypes, particularly when we initially begin to interact with a new culture. If we're basing our cultural assumptions only on what we've been taught as children or based on what media portrays to us, we run the risk of seriously offending and distancing ourselves from the very people we want to reach. So be yourself and demonstrate humility when you make mistakes. But be comfortable in your own skin.

2. Be a Learner

Along with authenticity, it's also important to be a learner. When entering into another culture, we will likely have to adjust to a myriad of cultural differences from what we're familiar with based on our own experiences. Some of these differences may be categorized as behavioral preferences like preferences for food, music or language, but some of them may be more "below the surface" such as time orientation, views on family or whether a culture is more individualistic or group oriented.

When ministering cross-culturally, we need to have a learning posture when interacting with the host culture. Learning directly through relationship is paramount and we can also learn about a culture through the books we read, movies we watch, news sources we pay attention to, churches we attend and a host of other ways.

When ministering within a culture where a language besides your own primary language is the norm, taking steps to learn the language is critical. Never consider yourself to have "arrived" and always pursue new learning opportunities.

3. Love the People & Their Culture

Quite simply, our ministry will lack fruit if we don't have a genuine and sincere love for the people that God has called us to influence. Jesus said that all people will know that we are his disciples by our love for others (John 13:35) and this is certainly the case for cross-cultural missionaries. It isn't our biblical proficiency, adeptness in apologetics or our ministry skills that will ultimately leave a lasting impact on people. Although these things are important for the missionary, it is God's love for them, demonstrated by the Holy Spirit working through us, that will have the most powerful impact on others.

Not only is it enough to simply love individuals, I think we need to also have a love for their culture. When I take the time to learn about someone's culture or when I make the effort to respect and honor that culture, it helps me eventually come to a place of genuinely loving that culture. This, in turn, opens the door for relationship with the people of that culture. If our normal posture is one of constant critique of the host culture while ignoring the negative aspects of our own, people will begin to tune out our message.

One of the highest compliments I ever received came from an African American colleague who said, "I know that you love me but I also know that you love my people. Because of that, I'll go into battle with you." When we love people and their culture, a powerful dynamic is unleashed within God's kingdom.

4. Find Mentors Who Are "Safe"

For those that serve in cross-culture ministry within our home country, I've found that most of us "hit a wall" after about 18-30 months. The honeymoon wears off, many of our idealistic notions of changing the world have evaporated and we might feel very alone. My story is no different. I found that some that I had once considered close friends now didn't seem to "get" my realities because we no longer had shared experiences. When confiding about my struggles or challenges in being a white man ministering among African Americans, I often received blank expressions when I hoped to received empathy.

As a tool of self-preservation, I learned that I had to be much more selective with who I was vulnerable with about my struggles and questions in ministry. I sought out and eventually found those of my own culture who had a similar ministry focus, as well as African American mentors that love me and believe the best of me. Over time I've become much more comfortable in knowing there are certain places and people where I can share about my experiences and there are some places where I simply don't go there.

In order to stay in cross-cultural ministry for the long haul, you need to find "safe" people who will walk along on this journey with you. When I refer to "safe" people I don't mean those that won't rebuke or exhort you when needed, but I do mean those that you know are for you and your good. It is those friends that can speak truth balanced with grace because of their love for you that will enable you to continue to press on.

5. Stay Spiritually Grounded & Focus on Jesus

You will make mistakes. You will fail. Things will not always turn out as you planned. But our personal relationship with God and remaining in spiritual community with others will help you remain in the game over time. Not to sound overly spiritual, but our personal prayer lives, walking in the Spirit, our commitment to daily reading of the Scriptures, journaling, personal and corporate worship, fasting, fellowship with other believers and the practice of other spiritual disciplines have helped me stay engaged during the highs and lows of cross-cultural ministry.

Although there have been challenges along the way, I'm learning that as one that is fully and completely loved by God, my value and worth is not dependent upon my acceptance by others or the perceived fruitfulness of my ministry. My desire is to keep my eyes on Jesus who endured the cross because of the joy that was set before Him (Hebrews 12:2).

Conclusion

God has not called us to be successful in the eyes of others but to be faithful to what He's asked us to do. Although cross-cultural ministry is extremely rewarding, it is also very hard. If God has called you to step out of your cultural comfort zone and to enter into the world of another for His sake, He has given you a holy calling. You may see much tangible spiritual fruit or you might not see the difference your life has made until the other side of eternity, but I encourage you to stay faithful to what God has commissioned you to do. It's worth it.

I recall going through a particularly difficult season of ministry a number of years ago. Our outreach was not progressing the way I had hoped and I was experiencing strained relationships with some others in our ministry. It was one of the many times that I've considered throwing in the towel and doing something else. I turned to the Bible and God led me to this well-known passage from the Old Testament:

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8, NIV)

When I feel overwhelmed or not sure what my next steps are, God often directs back to this verse. I take comfort in knowing that I need to: 1) Walk humbly with God, 2) To extend mercy to myself and others, and 3) To do what is right. This is what God requires of me. This is what God requires of you. Press on.

"A Time To Speak": Where Do We Go From Here?

Photo courtesy of Kainos Movement

A panel of black and white Christian leaders gathered at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee last night for a discussion about race and the Church that was carried live on the Internet. If you it, you can watch a recording of the panel discussion by visiting live.kainos.is.)

I joined with a diverse group of over 30 leaders from Cru at our Orlando headquarters to watch the two-hour livestream together and to participate in a 90 minute discussion afterward.

I won't attempt to comment on all that happened during the event (a couple of worthwhile summaries can be found at Reformed African American Network (RAAN) here and here) but, overall, I was pleased that this type of discussion was taking place. I would have preferred more woman on the panel and greater diversity in the ethnic and theological backgrounds of the panelists but those that participated did an admirable job.

In a country that has been historically divided along racial & ethnic lines, many of our churches have often trailed behind the broader culture in responding to racial injustice and actively moving towards unity across ethnic lines. I appreciated the emphasis that was placed on the importance of individual action and friendships in order for us to see healing in the Church. Although most panelists acknowledged the existence of systemic injustices, there was agreement that we each have a role to play.

In live-tweeting the event, there was a number of good comments that I captured. Here are a few that I felt were particularly poignant:

• "Real change will happen around the dinner table. We have to do it where others may not necessarily see it." @trillianewbell
• "Our immaturity as it pertains to the gospel and race has been exposed." @pastoremase
• "At the end of the day, we don't know each others' stories. If we lack proximity, we will lack empathy." @bcloritts
• "We're here at the Lorraine Motel where MLK was assassinated not because we've gotten it right but because we've gotten it wrong." @alberttate
• "What changed for me? My friendships with African Americans has grown exponentially." @MattChandler74
• "If we can't have those conversations in the Church, how can we expect the world to?" @darrinpatrick
• "These stories are American stories. Our collective stories." @ThabitiAnyabwil
• "The Church has allowed our racialized society to influence us more than the Christ." @DerwinLGray
• “Preempt the issues on abortion, on racism, and others, biblically. Go there first, and capture the vocabulary.” @JohnPiper

On a personal level, I was especially encouraged that a number of Cru leaders participated in this event within the context of multi-ethnic community. We had a healthy discussion after the livestream concluded and I trust that those dialogues will continue and, ultimately, will result in positive action. The discussion was great but the its true effectiveness will be measured in changed hearts and increased friendships across ethnic lines.

For me, I've already seen positive results. Just this morning at a men's small group Bible study through my church, we had a vigorous discussion about "A Time to Speak" and the current realities of race in America. As we shared our opinions, I realized that one of my friends in the group held a much different perspective than me. We had a tense, yet respectful, interaction where our perspectives were shared. 

After the group was over, this friend and I took the time to talk further. We listened to one another more fully and sought to understand where the other was coming from. We looked for common ground and challenged one another's assumptions. Our conversation ended with him asking for suggestions on practical ways that he can learn more about these issues with different perspectives than his own. 

It was a gracious dialogue between two Christian brothers with differing viewpoints yet both seeking to understand the other. Though we share the same ethnic background, we do not view these issues in the same manner. But we were able to talk about it and, hopefully, it will result in greater understanding on both our parts as we relate to those that live in different worlds than our own.

And that is my hope for what happens after "A Time to Speak." That honest and vulnerable dialogue will translate into greater empathy for one another. And that, eventually, that empathy turns into concrete loving action where people of various ethnicities build real and lasting friendships with one another. 

As much as I support the fight against unjust systems and structures, we could end up on an equal playing field yet still hating one another. Yes, let's fight inequality and injustice, but let's do so spurred on by the gospel and in the context of friendship and Christian brotherhood. We'll be all the better for it.

[If you're interested in learning more about what led me into caring so deeply about these issues, please check out a previous post of mine, How A Small Step Of Faith Started My Journey Into Ethnic Minority Ministry.]

How The Gospel Radically Affects Our Relationships

Photo Credit: Gerry Balding

The men's small group Bible study that I'm a part of through our church is nearing the end of our time in Tim Keller's Galatians study. Pastor Keller has the ability to help the biblical text come alive in a way that speaks right to the heart. I also think his understanding of what the gospel (good news of Jesus) represents is unparalleled.

Look at what he has to say about how a true understanding of the gospel will affect how we view ourselves and our relationships with others:

"The gospel creates a whole new self-image (Galatians 5:26, 6:3-5) which is not based on comparisons with others. Only the gospel makes us neither self-confident nor self-disdaining, but both bold and humble. Because of the gospel, we neither earn our worth through approval from people nor through power over people, so we are neither overdependent on others, nor afraid of commitment and vulnerability. That works itself out in relationships with everyone. 

The gospel is the only thing that addresses conceit, the vain-glory. To the degree I am still functionally earning my worth through performance (i.e. to the degree I am still functioning in works-righteousness), to that degree I will be either operating out of superiority or inferiority. Why? Because if I am saved by my works, then I can either be confident but not humble (if I am living up) or humble but not confident (if I am not living up). In other words, apart from the gospel, I will be forced to be superior or inferior or to swing back and forth or to be one way with some people and another way with others. 

I am continually caught between these two ways, because of the nature of my self-image. But the gospel creates a new self-image, as we have seen previously. It humbles me before anyone, telling me I am a sinner saved only by grace. But it emboldens me before anyone, telling me I am loved and honored by the only eyes in the universe that really count. So the gospel gives a boldness and a humility that do not eat each other up, but can increase together. 

We have seen previously that there are two equal and opposite errors that oppose the gospel: “legalism” and “antinomianism” which we can call here “moralism” and “hedonism." How does the gospel provide a “third way” in relationships?  

Moralism often makes relationships into a blame-game. Why? The moralist is very consciously trying to earn salvation through performance, and that includes relationships. Moralists must maintain a self-image of being “a good person.” Now some moralists do so by laying the blame on others, by being very judgmental and by always insisting that they are in the right. There is a lack of teachability, humble admission of error or listening. But moralists can also play the blame-game by laying the blame on themselves. Moralists can “earn their salvation” and convince ourselves we are worthy persons through being very willing to help others. This kind of self-salvation superficially makes the moralist look very open to listen, very humble, very teachable. 

But this can be co-dependency, a form of self-salvation through severely needing people’s approval or through needing people to need you (i.e. saving yourself by saving others). So moralism works through either blaming others or blaming yourself. Either way, it makes relationships torturous.  

On the other hand, hedonism reduces relationships to a negotiated partnership for mutual benefit. Hedonism says: “A relationship is fine as long as both people are helping each other reach their goals.” But as soon as a relationship entails major sacrifice, the hedonist labels it dysfunctional and bails out. (There are dysfunctional relationships but only when the sacrifice is being done out of needy selfishness and not out of fullness of love.) So, for the hedonist, you only relate to another as long as it is not costing you anything. So the choice (without the gospel) is to selfishly use others or to selfishly let yourself be used by others. But the gospel leads us to do neither. We do sacrifice and commit, but not out of a need to convince ourselves or others we are acceptable. So we can love the person enough to confront, yet stay with the person when it does not benefit us... 

Outside the gospel we are either confident (if achieving) or humble (if failing), but in the gospel our new self-image produces a bold humility that changes all relationships. Without the gospel, your self-image is based upon living up to some standards — whether yours or someone’s imposed upon you. If you live up to those standards, you will be confident but not humble. If you don't live up to them, you will be humble but not confident. Only in the gospel can you be both enormously bold and utterly sensitive and humble, for you are both perfect and a sinner! Paul shows us that this new, unique self-image changes all relationships. “Don’t be conceited — provoking or envying each other.” (Gal.5:26). 

Because we are humbled by the gospel, we don’t “provoke” or approach anyone with a sense of superiority. Because we are powerfully loved in the gospel, we don’t “envy” or approach anyone with a sense of inferiority. The gospel keeps us from being either codependent on, or independent of, people. Both approaches are essentially selfish ways to earn our value through relationships. Now we do not need to have people serve our needs nor to serve theirs. So we are free to sacrifice and commit, but also to love the person enough to confront."

This gospel is the good news that "we are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” (Tim Keller)

When Our Heroes Lie To Us: My Prayer For Lance Armstrong & Manti Te'o

Photo Credit: Neon Tommy

It's been a rough week for cyclist Lance Armstrong and Notre Dame football player Manti Te'o. It is being reported that Armstrong has admitted to the use of performance enhancing drugs in the past and, as a result, has jeopardized his standing as an American icon. In Te'o's case, it appears that the story of his deceased girlfriend was all a hoax. Whatever role he played in the charade is yet to be determined but, at minimum, it seems that he was not honest about it even after learning of the prank.

These instances, of course, are not the first cases of our athletic heroes disappointing us. In recent memory we've also seen legendary figures like Joe Paterno, Tiger Woods and too many MLB players to name have failed to live up to our expectations of them.

With the advent of social media, the public response is swift and strong when these stories come to light. We can easily cast our judgments about our heroes without knowing all the facts and are quick to make light of their perceived failures. Without excusing the lies of those we've placed on pedestals, I do wonder if the expectations we place on our heroes might be asking too much. Do we allow them to be human...or do we literally expect them to be superhuman?

In a article from a few years ago, ESPN.com's Jeff MacGregor wrote of the failure of a couple revered heroes -- baseball player Alex Rodriguez and Olympic legend Michael Phelps. MacGregor writes:

"And this has been our recent trouble with American "heroes," at least the ones arriving still warm off the humming assembly lines of popular culture. The problem lies not in their manufacture, but in our perception of the final product. Once we've been sold their heroic stories by the media and the for-profit institutions in charge of such things, we refuse to see our heroes for what they really are: complex, fallible human beings just like us who rise briefly out of the mire to do something extraordinary, then return to join us in the hog wallow of moral confusion and squalid appetite that is everyday life. 

Heroes never were meant to be an accurate reflection of daily human enterprise. They were meant to be examples of the rare capacity to exceed ourselves. Go back to ancient mythology, and you'll see what I mean. The Greeks understood that becoming a hero didn't absolve anyone of being human. In fact, that was usually the point of the story. Cautionary. Many of those "heroes" were lucky to get out of those stories alive. Most traded a single act of glory for a lifetime of punishing regret or a grisly death. 

Here in 21st century America, however, we prefer the Candyland version of heroic myth, in which no one is doomed to die or drown or wander forever in a wasteland of pain, but instead sets a record, scores a contract with William Morris, makes a million and marries a swimsuit model, and everything winds up hunky-dory at the end. Nobody has to sleep with his own mother and then claw his eyes out with a brooch."

I don't think it's unreasonable to ask our sports heroes to be people of integrity and to be honest with their fans. But we must realize that they are not perfect and that they will fail us. Athletes are no different than any else in regard to their humanity. They may happen to enjoy tremendous athletic success, but they still struggle with the same insecurities, need for acceptance and even the same sins that we all do. It seems to be an American pastime to worship people as they rise...and ridicule them as they fall. How sad.

Although it disappoints me when our heroes fail us, it doesn't surprise me. In a world where style is so often valued over substance and where we expect our heroes to perform superhuman feats, it's not unreasonable to surmise that some will cross ethical lines to achieve what they think we want them to become.

I don't know all the facts about Lance Armstrong and Manti Te'o. But I do think it's fair to say that some of their behavior is wrong, even though we are not in the position to know their motives and what led them to deceive the public. I, too, struggle with wanting to please others and pretend to be something that I am not so that others will like me more. But as I've gotten older, I've learned that presenting a false self to others is ultimately not fulfilling. Because at some point, our true self will be revealed, the imposter that we've been presenting to others will become unmasked and we will be seen for who we truly are.

I don't think we have to be fake with God since He knows all about us and loves us anyway. The conditional love of fans will never match the unconditional love of God.  My prayer is that Lance and Manti would both come to realize the love, forgiveness and acceptance that can be found through an ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ. I don't know their personal lives so they may already have a relationship with God. But I hope they would both be able to experience God in such a way that they would be able to live honest and forthright lives in front of others. Although I'm sure they will both have difficult days ahead, my guess is that they will be resting a little easier at night knowing that the darkness they've been living in has now been revealed in the light.

The heart of the Christian message is that we can never be good enough to earn God's favor but through faith in Christ, God accepts us as a new person. We no longer have to pretend to be something we are not. In the words of Pastor Tim Keller, the humble Christian understands that they are "more wicked than we ever dared believe, but more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared hope." May this be true of our heroes and of us. Amen.

Thank You From Cru!

Thank you to those of you that partner with us in ministry to see the hope of Jesus Christ brought to people throughout the world! Please watch this short video to see some of the faces of those that represent our global ministry.

How Falling Plates Illustrate Our Relationship With God

Have you ever watched a video that changed your destiny? This one may do just that.

#FallingPlates

Why Missionaries Must Love The People They Are Reaching

With Impact student leaders in 2011

Ed Stetzer offers a challenging perspective to all Christians who feel called by God to reach out to a specific community. It is a mindset that of missions that I hope to live out in my own life and ministry.

He says this:

""Give me Scotland or I die!" That's what John Knox said of Scotland. I would say: To fall in love with your community, you have to die--to yourself, to the mission and to your own preferences. 

If you are going to reach a community, you need to be deeply in love with it. Jesus, looking down on Jerusalem, cried, "They are like sheep without a shepherd." We have to say the same, about Plainview, Philadelphia and Pasadena. I am convinced you will not reach a community for Christ unless you are deeply in love with the community and its people. 

I have often called for Christians in our world to think like missionaries in the Two-Thirds World. If you have ever been around a missionary, you know that the good ones all love the people they are sent to--they can't stop talking about the culture and context. 

When missionaries take up residence cross-culturally, they truly love the culture where they live, sometimes even more than the culture back home. In the same way, a person looking to minister in a specific community cannot be disinterested in it. If it is a fishing community, you had better love fishing or learn to love it. If the community has a high school football team, you had better keep up with it. If you are a church leader, the community and its people must have an important part in your heart. 

I think you and I need the same passion in our contexts--our own personal "Scotlands"--for the Gospel. 

Jesus demonstrated this very concept in His earthly ministry as He: walked with the people in His culture, lived with them, listened to them, told stories to them, welcomed their children, and recognized and met people's needs. 

Too many church leaders read a book or go to a conference and get a great vision of a church in their heads. The problem is, they don't have a great vision for their community. The catch here is that part of you often has to die. Your own preferences have to be laid down to receive Christ's call and mission to the community. I don't care what you like; I care that you love the Gospel and the people God has called you to reach."

While Stetzer words are true for any Christian hoping to reach out to a certain community, I believe it is especially true for those of us that minister cross-culturally. Above all else, a cross-cultural minister needs to live their life in a way that the people to whom they minister will never question either God's love for them or the love their experience by the missionaries serving their community. It's not enough to just love God...we must also love the people to whom he sends us.

To read the rest of Stetzer's post please click here.

Tim Keller on Sin & Idolatry

Photo Credit: johanmede

Pastor Tim Keller offers how he shares about sin with young, urban non-Christians:

"Sin isn’t only doing bad things, it is more fundamentally making good things into ultimate things. Sin is building your life and meaning on anything, even a very good thing, more than on God. Whatever we build our life on will drive us and enslave us. Sin is primarily idolatry. 

Why is this a good path to take? 

First, this definition of sin includes a group of people that postmodern people are acutely aware of. Postmodern people rightly believe that much harm has been done by self-righteous religious people. If we say “sin is breaking God’s law” without a great deal of further explanation, it appears that the Pharisaical people they have known are ‘in’ and most other people are ‘out.’ Pharisees, of course, are quite fastidious in their keeping of the moral law, and therefore (to the hearer) they seem to be the very essence of what a Christian should be. An emphasis on idolatry avoids this problem. As Luther points out, Pharisees, while not bowing to literal idols, were looking to themselves and their moral goodness for their justification, and therefore they were actually breaking the first commandment. Their morality was self-justifying motivation and therefore spiritually pathological. At the bottom of all their law-keeping they were actually breaking the most fundamental law of all. When we give definitions and descriptions of sin to postmodern people, we must do so in a way that not only challenges prostitutes to change but also Pharisees. 

There is another reason we need a different definition of sin for postmodern people. They are relativists, and the moment you say, “Sin is breaking God’s moral standards,” they will retort, “Well, who is to say whose moral standards are right? Everyone has different ones! What makes Christians think that theirs are the only right set of moral standards?” The usual way to respond to this is to become sidetracked from your presentation of sin and grace into an apologetic discussion about relativism. Of course, postmodern people must be strongly challenged about their mushy view of truth, but I think there is a way to move forward and actually make a credible and convicting gospel presentation before you get into the apologetic issues. I do it this way, I take a page from Kierkegaard’s The Sickness Unto Death and I define sin as building your identity—your self-worth and happiness—on anything other than God. Instead of telling them they are sinning because they are sleeping with their girlfriends or boyfriends, I tell them that they are sinning because they are looking to their careers and romances to save them, to give them everything that they should be looking for in God. This idolatry leads to drivenness, addictions, severe anxiety, obsessiveness, envy of others, and resentment. 

I have found that when you describe their lives in terms of idolatry, postmodern people do not offer much resistance. They doubt there is any real alternative, but they admit sheepishly that this is what they are doing. I have also found that this makes sin more personal. Making an idol out of something means giving it the love you should be giving your Creator and Sustainer. To depict sin as not only a violation of law but also of love is more compelling. Of course a complete description of sin and grace includes recognition of our rebellion against God’s authority. But I’ve found that if people become convicted about their sin as idolatry and mis-directed love, it is easier to show them that one of the effects of sin is to put them into denial about their hostility to God. In some ways, idolatry is like addiction writ large. We are ensnared by our spiritual idols just like people are ensnared by drink and drugs. We live in denial of how much we are rebelling against God’s rule just like addicts live in denial of how much they are trampling on their families and loved ones."

To read more of his article please click here.

The Chens Tell A Beautiful Story of Adoption

One of the most moving aspects of becoming a Christian is the experience of having been adopted as a child of God. Adoption provides a beautiful example of what it means to demonstrate God's love in a meaningful and lasting way. Our friends, Dennis & Carita Chen, enjoyed the privilege of having aspects of their adoption journey captured on video. The video takes less than nine minutes and I promise you that your eyes won't be dry after seeing them meet their son, Jacob, for the first time. You can watch it below or by clicking here.

The Story Of The Bible Is Not About Us

Photo Credit: Travis Seitler

The Bible is not about us. The Bible tells the story of a loving, merciful and just God who is always at work rescuing lost people and redeeming them for His glory. Yes, we all play a role in God's overarching story but we are not the hero of the story. Jesus is.

The Jesus Storybook Bible, written by Sally Lloyd-Jones, does a tremendous job of illustrating the point that God's story is about God and we humans are simply part of that story. Though written primarily for children, this book can be appreciated by adults as Lloyd-Jones helps the Scriptures come alive while telling the consistent story of the Holy Scriptures, with Jesus at the center.

Sally Lloyd-Jones offers her perspective on the Desiring God blog:

"One Sunday, not long ago, I was reading the story of Daniel and the Scary Sleepover from The Jesus Storybook Bible to some 6 year olds during a Sunday school lesson. One little girl in particular was sitting so close to me she was almost in my lap. Her face was bright and eager as she listened to the story, utterly captivated. She could hardly keep on the ground and kept kneeling up to get closer to the story.

At the end of the story there were no other teachers around and I panicked and went into automatic pilot and heard myself — to my horror — asking, “And so what can we learn from Daniel about how God wants us to live?”

And as I said those words it was as if I had literally laid a huge load on that little girl. Like I broke some spell. She crumpled right in front of me, physically slumping and bowing her head. I will never forget it.

It is a picture of what happens to a child when we turn a story into a moral lesson.

When we drill a Bible story down into a moral lesson, we make it all about us. But the Bible isn’t mainly about us, and what we are supposed to be doing — it’s about God, and what he has done!

When we tie up the story in a nice neat, little package, and answer all the questions, we leave no room for mystery. Or discovery. We leave no room for the child. No room for God.

When we say, “Now what that story is all about is…”, or “The point of that story is…” we are in fact totally missing the point. The power of the story isn’t in summing it up, or drilling it down, or reducing it into an abstract idea.

Because the power of the story isn’t in the lesson. The power of the story is the story.

And that’s why I wrote The Jesus Storybook Bible. So children could know what I didn’t:
That the Bible isn’t mainly about me, and what I should be doing. It’s about God and what he has done.

That the Bible is most of all a story — the story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them.

That — in spite of everything, no matter what, whatever it cost him — God won’t ever stop loving his children… with a wonderful, Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.

That the Bible, in short, is a Story — not a Rule Book — and there is only one Hero in the Story.

I wrote The Jesus Storybook Bible so children could meet the Hero in its pages. And become part of his Magnificent Story.

Because rules don’t change you. But a Story — God’s Story — can."

While it is good and necessary for us to seek to apply what we learn from the Scriptures to our lives, it can be easy for us to miss the point of God's bigger story when we only look at what applies to us. God's story is bigger than any one of us but He does invite to play a role. Have you discovered your role in God's story?

How One Evangelical Church Is Reaching Out To The Gay Community

Photo Credit: Royal Oak
Missionary Church

While driving with my twelve-year-old son to church early one Sunday morning a few weeks, I noticed a large billboard next to a major road that had caught his eye. The billboard was touting "Gay Days", an annual event here in Orlando where Disney and a number of other businesses sponsor events tailored for the gay and lesbian community.

I asked my son if he knew what "gay" meant and why there were two men on the billboard together. He understood what it implied and this led into what I thought was a healthy conversation (which was really not all that awkward considering that we had had "the talk" some time ago) and I explained to him how we should respond as Christians to people like those on the billboard.

We discussed that even if we don't understand the choices of others or don't necessarily agree with their lifestyles that we should still respect others and not tease, make fun of or be mean to them. I told him that there may be people we know that are gay, even if won't don't realize it. As a Christian, I believe that God's Word instructs me to stand up for the ridiculed and the marginalized and to demonstrate His love to all those He brings across our path.

With the recent vote in North Carolina and President Obama's comments on gay marriage, as well as the widespread media coverage of cringe-worthy comments from some members of the clergy, the topics of homosexuality and gay rights are very much at the forefront of the national dialogue. Although there are some Christian ministers that continue to build barriers between people of faith and the gay community, I know of at least one church that is intentionally reaching out to gays and lesbians in a loving and creative manner.

Royal Oak Missionary Church (ROMC), led by Pastor Bill Barnwell and located just outside of Detroit, is dear to my heart in so many ways. Not only is it the church that nurtured my wife in her youth and eventually sent her out as a missionary, but it is also the place where Lori and I became husband and wife. Many dear friends of ours are members of ROMC and I couldn't be prouder of what they are doing this weekend.

The church is putting on a play entitled "Masks" that will address topics like marital infidelity and homosexuality, with proceeds from the play going to a non-profit organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention to gay and lesbian youth and those struggling with their sexual identity.

The Daily Tribune shares about the play:

"If a church proclaims itself as pro-life, the members should care about gay teenagers who are at risk of committing suicide. 

That’s what the Rev. Bill Barnwell of Warren believes. He is practicing what he preaches with his evangelical congregation at Royal Oak Missionary Church, 411 E. 11 Mile Road. 

Barnwell’s play called “Masks” opens next week at the church and 80 percent of the proceeds from ticket sales and advertising will go to The Trevor Project. Even before the curtain rises June 1, the church has raised about $6,000 for the nonprofit group that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth.  

“I attribute the fundraising success so far to people in the church just really catching the vision for saving young lives and seeing the value in reaching out a hand of friendship and love to the LGBT community and letting them know that their lives matter,” said Barnwell, calling his congregation brave. The central theme of his three-act play is that secrecy breeds dysfunction in any relationship. Barnwell intertwined two major plots in the script with a closeted gay youth pastor driven to despair after years of torment and a prominent, successful married couple struggling with infidelity and their teenagers’ sexually related angst. 

While some pastors are going on record as saying that they wish we could just get rid of all gay people, I'm thankful there are others like Bill Barnwell that are willing to take faith risks and face the scorn of their own community so that gays and lesbians can find life in Christ. If we as Christians say we are pro-life, we need to be pro-life for everyone. We don't have to agree with people to esteem them as image bearers of God and I'm grateful that a church that I am so close to is doing just that.

If you live in the Detroit-area and would like to see the play this weekend, please visit here for ticket information.

Chuck Colson: A Man With Two Stories

Photo Credit: faithmouse

One story tells of a despicable convict with a failed marriage who played a principal role in one of our country's most shameful political scandals. Another story tells of a man transformed by the love of God who enjoyed a nearly fifty year marriage and served prisoners and their families for the last several decades he spent on earth. Both stories speak of the same man - Chuck Colson - who died yesterday at the age of 80.

For most Americans of my parents generation and older, Chuck Colson is known as the "hatchet man" of the Nixon administration, known for the Watergate scandal that eventually led to President Nixon's resignation and caused several members of his staff, including Colson, to spend time behind bars as a result of their roles in this affair.

But for many evangelical Christians, Chuck Colson is known as the founder of Prison Fellowship, a ministry that has touched the lives of countless prisoners and their families through programs like Angel Tree, and a prominent author and speaker that has been a consistent voice of reason for the evangelical community in an increasingly partisan society.

It is likely that the primary narrative you read - i.e. Watergate or Christian leader - depends largely on the source that is reporting on Colson's life. Many mainstream outlets insist on focusing on Colson's troubled past, whereas Christians typically center on his Christian life post-Watergate. To be true to who Chuck Colson was, both stories need to be told.

Similar to the Apostle Paul who met Jesus on the road to Damascus, Chuck Colson was a horrible man whose life was radically changed after he met Jesus. Even those that doubted Colson's conversion story, told so well in his 1976 autobiography Born Again, must admit that his faith was sincere as he was still telling the same story of how his life had been changed by Christ nearly forty years after it happened.

This faith compelled him to start Prison Fellowship to not only meet the spiritual needs of prisoners but to help care for their physical needs as an advocate for prison reform and a spokesperson for the families of those behind bars. Though still considered a political conservative after his conversion, it was evident that he was not the same man. A man that only cares about advancing his political career would not spend the rest of his life serving those that are among our nation's most despised and most forgotten members.

But Colson understood what all sincere Christians whose lives have been changed by the power of the gospel of Jesus comprehend. It is that we are all criminals at heart; wicked people unable to save ourselves. But once we respond to the offer of salvation, God's power is sufficient to change even the most unlikely candidates -- whether that be Saul of Tarsus, Chuck Colson, you or me.

Chuck Colson was a man with two stories. The first, more uncomfortable story was needed so that the second, more glorious story can be told. The complete story of Chuck Colson is a story of redemption and salvation. It is a story of new birth. One might even say that it is a story of an unlikely man being "born again."

Putting the Mission Back Into Missional

Photo Credit: ToastyKen

Jonathan K. Dodson has written a splendid piece for The Gospel Coalition entitled, "Why the Missional Church Isn't Enough," where he advocates for the need to continually look beyond our own borders even as we seek to reach those in our own community.

Here's a highlight:

"Church historian Kenneth Latourette (1884-1963) noted that the church has a history of advance and retreat, what he called "the pulsations in the life of Christianity." Lautorette points out that the history of the church is a history of oscillating influence, spreading the gospel across the globe over the centuries. This has resulted in new expressions of the Christian faith over time and across cultures. It is amazing to consider the diversity and uniqueness of the gospel throughout space and time among the peoples of history! Today, expressions of the gospel are exploding in Africa and Asia. 

These new expressions of Christian faith are more than intriguing. They are, in fact, an expansion of God's glory. You might think that God's glory un-expandable and already complete. Not according to Jonathan Edwards. In The History of Redemption, Edwards argues that God's glory is incomplete: 

God looks on the communication of himself, and the emanation of the infinite glory and good that are in himself to belong to the fullness and completeness of himself, as though he were not in his most complete and glorious state without it. Thus the church of Christ is called the fullness of Christ: as though he were not in his complete state without her. 

God's glory in an incomplete state? His glory is not full? Sounds awfully unorthodox. What is Edwards saying? 

If Edwards is correct, the full expression of God's glory can only be completed through the history of redemption. The history of redemption cannot be completed until "the end has come," and the end will not come until "the gospel of the kingdom has been preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations" (Matt 24:14). God's glory is expanded when the gospel is translated into the many cultures of the world, entering new ethnicities, idioms, and habits. It will take the breadth of history to display the diversity of God's glory through the advance of the church. 

However, the church also retreats. Our passion for mission wanes. Even with the resurgence of missional ecclesiology, we fail in sharing and showing the gospel in our own cultures. Clearly, the missional church is not enough, not only in its scope of mission, but also in its motivation for mission. When the motivation of the church is mission, we are destined to retreat, tire out, and fail. What, then, should we do? Throw up our arms in surrender and blend fully into our cultures with the hope of missional memory loss? 

We need a greater, more captivating motivation than "missional church." When the motivation for mission is mission, people will revert to consumerism. However, if our missional endeavors are motivated by something greater, more certain, than our oscillating passion for the advance of the gospel, then there is hope. If the history of redemption will not come to a close until God's glory has been completed, then the assurance of mission starts and ends, not with the church, but with God! God's commitment to his own glorious expansion throughout space and time is the hope of the world. The hope of mission is not the church; it is Jesus committed to ushering his full, redemptive reign over all space and time, including every people."

To read the complete article please click here.

The Whole Church Bringing The Whole Gospel To The Whole World

Whiteboard-Whole Church Whole Gospel Whole World from mariners church on Vimeo.

(h/t to Sandy Ovalle for the link)

John Piper on Heaven Without Christ

Photo Credit: giopuo

What is your motivation for wanting to go to heaven? John Piper addresses this question in his book, God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself:

"The critical question for our generation—and for every generation— is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there?" 

"...Christ did not die to forgive sinners who go on treasuring anything above seeing and savoring God. And people who would be happy in heaven if Christ were not there, will not be there. The gospel is not a way to get people to heaven; it is a way to get people to God. It's a way of overcoming every obstacle to everlasting joy in God. If we don't want God above all things, we have not been converted by the gospel."

Getting to heaven and finding that Jesus will not be there would be like a groom entering his wedding ceremony and learning his bride will never show up. A man does not go to his wedding primarily to see his friends and family; he goes there to begin the rest of his life with the one he cherishes more than anyone else. There are many reasons that I look forward to eternity but my heart aches for heaven more than anything else because I will get to see Jesus.

Slavery & Christian Heroes of the Faith

Photo Credit: WELS.net

In a recent blog post, Trevin Wax tackles a difficult question for the modern Christian -- How do we respond to the great heroes of our faith that openly subscribed to racial prejudices and may have even owned slaves themselves?

Due to the uncomfortable nature of this topic, most of us choose to ignore the question. We would rather act like we don't know that Jonathan Edwards, the great Puritan preacher, owned slaves or that Martin Luther, the courageous instigator of the Christian Reformation, is widely known to have been anti-Semitic?

So how do we wrestle through the reality that some of those that are generally regarded for their deep understanding of the gospel failed so miserably to live out this understanding as it pertained to their fellow man?

Wax offers this:

"The one thing we cannot do is to explain away our theological forebears’ attitudes and actions by appealing to the historical context of their time. It’s true we must take into consideration their context in order to understand them and refrain from unnecessary vilification. But we must make sure that as we point out the general social ethics of the day we do not diminish the sinfulness of their practice. Otherwise, we run the risk of elevating right doctrine over right practice in a way that departs from the teaching of the apostles. 

Attitudes and actions matter. When Paul confronted Peter for separating himself from the Gentiles, he wasn’t worried that Peter had abandoned justification as a doctrine. Paul called him out because Peter was denying the truth by his practice. In other words, we cannot paper over the sinful actions of our forefathers by appealing to the soundness of their doctrinal beliefs. And let’s be clear. Racial and ethnic superiority is antithetical to the doctrine upon which the church of Jesus Christ stands or falls. 

...Slavery is a great evil, but even slavery cannot stand in the way of the grace and glory of the gospel. And just as we learn from the blind spots of the generations who have gone before us, we trust that the blood of Christ will cover our own blind spots. That’s why the more we walk with God, the more we cry like David: "Cleanse me from my hidden faults.""

The men and women that went before us were fallible human beings, just as we are today. Because they "missed it" in such an important area does not negate the truth of the message they preached, even if they failed to always live it out in their own lives. These men were influenced by the culture they lived in...and we are influenced by ours. It's a reminder that just because a popular preacher advocates something, it doesn't always mean it lines up with what Scripture teaches. We should always compare what we're being taught to what the Bible actually says.

Just as we are horrified to learn that Bible-believing Christians participated in the slave trade, future generations will be shocked to learn of issues that we tolerated (e.g. abortion). If history has taught us anything, it is not that people are inherently good and that the gospel is not needed but it has shown us that we are wicked and in desperate need of a Savior. Fortunately for us, that Savior is not found among sinful Christian leaders but He stands at the right hand of the Father pleading on our behalf.

To read the rest of Trevin's well-written post please click here.

World Missions & Western Guilt

Photo Credit:
royalconstanstine society

We missionaries from the West often get a bad rap in the increasingly secularized culture in which we live. Because of shameful aspects of our past such as the Crusades, Western colonialism and the African slave trade which some missionaries contributed to, those of us that travel to other cultures to tell people about Jesus can find ourselves apologizing for the calling we feel that God has given to us.

In our efforts to be culturally sensitive, we may shy away from the verbal proclamation of the gospel message of Jesus and instead focus on humanitarian aspects of mission such as provide food, housing and clean water for those in need. While these things are good and appropriate for missionaries to participate in, our guilt over past atrocities committed in the name of Jesus may cause a hesitation in identifying ourselves as Christians who believe the message we have is needed by all. Western guilt can drive much of what exists in Christian missions today but it doesn't have to be that way.

In a recent article for Christianity Today, Bishop Hwa Yung challenges Western missionaries to not be driven by unhealthy guilt but to be compelled by the gospel of Christ. A highlight:

"We've witnessed many conquests and imperial expansions throughout world history. Many of these were done in the name of religion. But I am not aware of a society that has self-critically developed a guilt complex as deep and extensive over past mistakes as today's West. One can easily name a number of non-Western societies and nations that have practiced territorial expansions and various oppressions in the name of religion or national interests. In which of these do we find serious wrestling with guilt? I am not saying those from other cultural and religious traditions aren't able to develop guilt complexes. I am saying that, outside Western culture shaped by a Christian history, I do not see evidence of such a complex on a similar scale. 

The point is this: The very fact of Western guilt may be one of the supreme evidences for the enduring validity of the gospel in the post-Christian West. For it shows that the gospel has the power to shape the conscience of a culture, even when its propositional claims have been forgotten or largely rejected by that culture. Seemingly, despite being abandoned by many Westerners, the gospel continues to simmer in an unquenchable manner in a society that once acknowledged Christ. 

What do we conclude from this? That yes, Western guilt should lead to repentance for presumptuous, insensitive, ethnocentric, and triumphalistic missions. The wrong conclusion, however, is to suggest that we must forgo Western missions because such missions have lost integrity. The very guilt that troubles the Western conscience over past failures points to the moral power and enduring validity of the gospel. Without this burden of guilt, which the Spirit imparts, this world would be far more cruel, heartless, unjust, and oppressive than it is. Only when our hearts and our cultures have responded to the call of Christ and experienced the work of the Spirit can such a conscience develop on the sort of scale that we find in the West. Thus, the Western guilt complex properly understood is also a profound call to humble confidence and boldness in mission."

For sincere missionaries not seeking to convert others to their own culture but to simply introduce them to a God that makes Himself known in all cultures, Yung's words are a comfort. Many missionaries have confused their calling and attempted to force new believers to adopt the culture of the missionary. A good missionary knows that the gospel of Jesus does not exist in just any one culture or people group but it has the power to flourish and prosper within any culture on the planet.

Though the gospel message should never change, how it gets expressed and how it gets delivered should always adapt to the culture in which it is being lived out. It is possible to celebrate and appreciate my own culture while, at the same time, celebrate and appreciate the culture of others. The God of the Bible is not limited to any one culture but He expresses Himself in all cultures. I need not be ashamed of my culture nor should I presume it upon others. As a missionary, my calling is to introduce others to the Jesus of the Bible and to step aside so that that same Jesus can make Himself known within that individual's life and the culture in which they live. There is no need to feel guilty when that is my motive.

To read the complete Christianity Today article please click here.

John Piper: A Recovering Racist Changed By The Gospel

Photo Credit: Micah_68

Dr. John Piper is a renowned pastor, author and speaker that is considered by many to be among the country's top Christian leaders. But in a newly released book, Piper confesses to the racism that infiltrated his heart while growing up in a segregated South in the midst of the American Civil Rights movement.

In Bloodlines: Race, Cross and the Christian, tackles a topic head-on that few of his peers in conservative, evangelical circles are willing to address -- racism. Piper adeptly uses the Holy Scriptures to argue that not only is the Christian God opposed to the racism that has so tainted our land but that He cares deeply for people of all cultures.  By courageously sharing his own journey on this road, Piper demonstrates that the gospel of Jesus can transform hearts in deep and undeniable ways.

While I am quite supportive of this book and would encourage you to read it, I do have one glaring concern with the potential for how it is being received within certain corners of evangelical and, more particularly, Reformed Christian circles...

On one hand, I am unbelievably encouraged that a white Christian leader of Piper's stature has chosen to write so explicitly about a topic that so many of us white American Christians would wish to simply go away. On the other hand, I am troubled that a number of people seem to be promoting this book as the first effort that a Christian has ever made to address Christianity, the Bible and racism.

Though Piper's work is theologically rich and plentifully backed up by Scripture, his is not the first to do so.  There are a number of solid Christian leaders that have written on the same subject over the years but have essentially been ignored or dismissed by some of the same types of people that are champions of Piper's book because they don't subscribe to the same systems of theology or have a different cultural background.

I am excited about the potential that Bloodlines has to influence a generation of Christians that love John Piper but don't expose themselves to many writers of color or those outside of their narrowly defined theological bubbles.  These individuals may be led to consider issues that they never have before and for that I am grateful. Racism has affected our lives as American and as individuals in ways that few other sins have.

Brave Christians need to be willing to look within our own hearts to recognize the sin that lurks within and be obedient to God to address this first in ourselves and then in the society around us. I agree with Piper that it is the gospel of Jesus Christ that is the antidote to the disease of racism. It's just unfortunate that so many Christians feel like we're not infected.

To read Dr. Tim Keller's introduction to Bloodlines please click here.

For a moving video in which John Piper shares about his journey with racism please watch this video below.


Bloodlines Documentary with John Piper from Crossway on Vimeo.

What Is Sin?

Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk

From R.C. Sproul:

"The question, “What is sin?” is raised in the Westminster Shorter Catechism. The answer provided to this catechetical question is simply this: “Sin is any want of conformity to or transgression of the law of God.”

Let us examine some of the elements of this catechetical response. In the first instance, sin is identified as some kind of want or lack. In the middle ages, Christian theologians tried to define evil or sin in terms of privation (privatio) or negation (negatio). In these terms, evil or sin was defined by its lack of conformity to goodness. The negative terminology associated with sin may be seen in biblical words such as disobedience, godlessness, or immorality. In all of these terms, we see the negative being stressed. Further illustrations would include words such as dishonor, antichrist, and others.

However, to gain a complete view of sin, we have to see that it involves more than a negation of the good, or more than a simple lack of virtue. We may be inclined to think that sin, if defined exclusively in negative terms, is merely an illusion. But the ravages of sin point dramatically to the reality of its power, which reality can never be explained away by appeals to illusion. The reformers added to the idea of privatio the notion of actuality or activity, so that evil is therefore seen in the phrase, “privatio actuosa.” This stresses the active character of sin. In the catechism, sin is defined not only as a want of conformity but an act of transgression, an action that involves an overstepping or violation of a standard."

To read the complete post entitled, "Sin Is Cosmic Treason", please click here.