Kingdom Come!

Well here we are in the midst of Globe International’s missions gathering.  We’ve got missionaries here from South Africa, Mexico, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Scotland, Germany, Indonesia, Russia, Japan, India and Nepal.  And there are more.  these are the ones my tired mind remembers.

Today there was an extended prayer session for missionaries.  Pastor Sam Webb ministered to many as he prayed with them.  Phyllis and a group of ladies worked like Trojans (I don’t know where that expression came from, but I use it…) making lunch for the missionary gang.

Tomorrow many of the missionaries will be speaking in local churches.

Monday I have a part in sharing about the training initiatives we have going and the development of the Globe Learning community.  I get about 5 minutes in the morning Family Gathering, about an hour to foster discussion among those who do training all over the world. And then 5 minutes at the Globe Banquet Monday night.  (You might say a wee prayer for me… it’s easier for me to speak for an hour than for 5 minutes!  Yikes!)

We also have in our home for a few days Andreas and Marion Pestke.  They are from Germany where  he has bi-vocationally pastored a church.  They are enroute to Nicaragua to work with Sandy Carter and Globe Nicaragua.  They are “sent out” by Globe Europe (GE) and my good friend Brad Thurston is the director.  (Brad gave me a GE cap!  As usual I look quite striking in it!  Has a nice GE logo on the front… and says “together for the nations.”  Cool!)

Andreas and Marion are great folks!  (I have to say this because they read this blog and were concerned that I would say something unkind about them as our houseguests… but I can’t think of anything that I could say about them that would be unkind… unless I lied.)  But they are irritating: they are very thin; they get up every morning and walk or jog in the neighborhood and they help with the dishes and make coffee and all that.  Terribly irritating.  Phyllis will now expect me to be like them.  And lose weight.  And exercise.  And make coffee throughout the day and keep things tidy.  Germans!

Speaking of coffee, both Johnny Cruz (Honduras) and Sandy Carter (Nicaragua) brought me coffee from their respective countries.  Colleen Hawthorn promised me some coffee and perhaps some tea from Burma.  She’s just come from there.

I had a great conversation with Danny and Judy Armstrong.  They are long time Globe International missionaries.  They are doing lots of things in missions awareness and emphasis on taking the Good News to Asian Muslims.  They are fantastic people.

We have an IGM attendee (he’s not actually enrolled) named Jack Frost.  He’s just completed a time with Teen Challenge and is so very interested in missions.  But here the very coolest thing: he keeps hanging around and cleaning up!  Taking out trash, vacuuming and tidying (you’d think he was German or something, but he ain’t!) and just helping out.  He keeps saying what a privilege just to hang with missionary heroes and serve them.  Wow!  What a heart!

But these men and women I’m around these days are heroes!  They’ve set aside success and advancement and achievement to serve God and give heir lives for Him and His ministry.  Heroes!  When I stand and chat with men Roger West and Bob Hill and Johnny Cruz and Jerry Smith and all these guys and ladies, I feel like I’m kinda on holy ground.  They’ve given - and continue to give - their lives for the Gospel.  And hey, men and women like these are worthy of honor.

A few days ago my friend James Graham sent me an email and link regarding Pagan Christianity.  He wanted to know my call on Frank Viola and his movement.  I whipped off a quick email basically saying what my other friend Bill Kinnon says in his blog.  My only other comments were that basically one generation’s contextualization becomes another generation’s syncretism and religion.  Christendom - that era where the churches influence was greatest - was ushered in by Constantine’s acceptance and promotion of the Church.

Regarding contextualization I wrote…

• We have to understand the Church historically in terms of contextualization… Paul at Mars Hill was contextualizing.  Missionary/apostles were taking a basically Hebrew context and making it palatable to a pagan audience.
• Perhaps, the Hellenization of the Gospel and the Church was a legitimate attempt to contextualize Good News so that it was heard by those accustomed to Greek temples, etc.  Keep in mind too that there was a huge Christendom shift going on too with the acceptance of Constantine and the movement away from roving itinerate Apostles to territorial resident Bishops… different mindset completely.
• Some of the issues today involve contextualization in missions and Po-Mo ministry.  Guys like Viola and Barna see it and applaud it here but can’t see it “there” - back then…
• When we contextualize in the present, we expose our selves to syncretism in the future. And I think that one generation’s contextualization often leads to a “generation-to-come’s” syncretistic compromise. From spirituality to religion…
• The Church is primarily relational not institutional.  The Gospel is best passed on relationally through life-style discipling and mentoring - not programs and courses.

I’ve picked up and am rereading Alan Roxburgh’s The Sky is Falling.  I read it whne the ink was still wet in 2005, but even with all the new books on my desk, decided I neede to reread it. 

For my “recreational reading” I’ve just finished Chasing Francis a novel by Ian Morgan Cron.  I’d seen it recommended by Jonny Baker, so I bought it and read it.  As Christian fiction, it’s okay.  It reminds me of Wisdom Hunter (also Christian fiction) that I read years ago.  It came out in 1991.  (My friend Rick Thompson, with whom we worked in Kenya in the 1990’s and who died a few years ago, enjoyed the Wisdom Hunter immensely and referred to it over years of conversation and dialogue.)  Both books involve disillusioned evangelical church leaders who search for meaning and relational Christianity.

Josh and Diana gave me a copy of Rob Bell’s Sex God for Christmas.  I read part of the first chapter and then Phyllis stole it and now I occasionally see it when she pulls it out of her reading bag…

We began our classes of Globe’s Institute for Global Ministries (IGM) this week.  There are around twenty people signed up and attending.  I taught this week on “Why God Thinks He Can Use You.”  Basically it addresses God’s investment in His people so they can be missional in life and attitude.  Then we did the same teaching over in Mobile on Thursday night for IGO’s IWM.

Phyllis and I have been watching the DVD series of Heroes.   I’d not seen it on TV, but had heard great things about the series from credible sources - not just TV ads.  And when it came out on DVD for $50 - I thought, well I’ll have to borrow it.  $50! We can’t do that!  But then walking through a Target, I saw it on sale for $19 so I scooped it up and we’ve been enjoying it very much!  And on DVD, you don’t have to worry about commercials and you can go back if you missed some dialogue!  (It’s great living is the digital age!  Maybe…)
Hiro is great!  I can’t quite figure the Mr. Bennet connect, yet nor the Niki/Jessica deal… we’re maybe 1/3 through the season.

I can see why some people are hooked by its plot and why some people are really ticked by its supernatural Darwinism.  One of my takes is that we - as 21^st century people - are hungry for the supernatural.  And hungry to see that we are “special;” that somehow as average going-to-work people we are endowed with something beyond the “normal.”  We’re hungry for God to move in our lives and give us a mission (“Save the cheerleader; save the world!”) and then empower us to do it! 

Yikes!  Sounds like the missional Gospel, huh?  We can’t just wait for the next “movement” to come and allow us to surf on for God.  We can’t expect the Big Boys to do it!  We’ve gotta find out our “specialness” and then see how it fits into the whole plot of the save the world scenario.

I’d like the whole IGM group to see the series and then plug it into my “Why God Thinks He Can Use You” teaching.  But we can’t do that…

Hiro reminds me of new Jesus-followers who discover their “specialness” and just believe God is going to use them!  Claire and Matt remind me of some of us who stumble into our gifts and are scared silly.  (I remember when Phyllis first found herself “prophetically gifted” and she began to see and understand other people.   She saw stuff and was a little freaked!)

Life goes on!  And we are challenged and blessed!