PREVIOUSLY, IN (PART TWO) of MISSIOLOGY:
Hello Beloved:
Wayne Grudem describes the Purposes of the Church as follows:
We can understand the purposes of the church in terms of ministry to God, ministry to believers, and ministry to the world. (Grudem, 867)
He further breaks this down into categories he elaborates on: (1) Ministry to God: Worship, (2) Ministry to Believers: Nurture, (3) Ministry to the World: Evangelism and Mercy, and (4) Keeping These Purposes in Balance. (Grudem, 867-869)
So what is the elaboration behind Grudem’s (3) Ministry to the World: Evangelism and Mercy? Stay tuned. It’s a goldmine.
——————–
…AND NOW, PART THREE
Ministry to the World: Evangelism and Mercy. Jesus told his disciples that they should “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). This evangelistic work of declaring the gospel is the primary ministry that the church has toward the world.31 Yet accompanying the work of evangelism is also a ministry of mercy, a ministry that includes caring for the poor and needy in the name of the Lord. Although the emphasis in the new Testament is on giving material help to those who are part of the church (Acts 11:29; 2 Corinthians 8:4; 1 John 3:17), there is still an affirmation that it is right to help unbelievers even if they do not respond with gratitude or acceptance of the gospel message. Jesus tells us,
“Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:35-36) [emphasis in bold italics by Grudem]
[...and Grudem's #31 footnote reads]:
31. I do not mean to say that evangelism is more important than worship or nurture, but only that it is our primary ministry towards the world. [emphasis in italics by me]
(Grudem, 868)
The above words from Grudem are both echoing and bringing home to us the words of Christ that seem to leap from the pages of scripture, and these words bring me up short.
My propensity is to not even share the Gospel with those who are unkind to me, let alone give them practical help in regard to their health and “daily bread” needs regardless of their response to the Gospel. God forgive me for the Phariseeism that has obviously been birthed in my heart (please understand me: in no way do I blame SGM on this particular bullet); and Christ forgive me for directly disobeying Your command (You did not say, “This is a good idea,” or, “Here is a suggestion.”)
God is merciful to remind me of this! It’s not about Protestant Knight. It’s not about you. It’s not about any of us. It’s about the Gospel. It’s about Him. He is the Gospel. And He is merciful to all.
The context of “mercy” within Dave Harvey’s Missiology booklet -his vision of how Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM) would, should, and does acts of mercy- is an interesting picture, to say the least. If one were to watch a PowerPoint presentation of the Missiology booklet, I’m sure it would seem like one of those so-called job interviews that turns out to be an attempt to rope one into an Amway-type schematic of missions. According to Harvey, any type of mercy missions done by SGM must adhere to a pyramidic, alliterative model developed around Harvey’s extrapolations of the Message (the base of this pyramid), Method (in the center of this pyramid), and the Model (at the top of this pyramid). (Harvey, 6)
Within those words that are contained in this pyramid, Harvey gives sub-categories and sub-sub-categories as descriptors. For Message it is The Gospel and Gospel Inspired motives: The Way of Humility and The Way of Servanthood. For Method, it is Church Planting, Apostolic Ministry and Team Ministry. For Model, it is the ASLA (as in Assessment, Specialized Training, Launch Support, and Apostolic Care) Adoption Process and Associate Program. (Harvey, 36) Harvey spends the bulk of the Missiology booklet defining these categories, sub-categories and sub-sub-categories.
I did a word and phrase search -that is, words or phrases that may be pertinent to the subject of missions- for the entirety of Missiology, and below is a list of those words or phrases and how many times they appear within the booklet:
“Charity”: 0 times.
“Christ’s love,” or “God’s love,” or “Holy Spirit’s love” phrases: 0 times.
“Clothing,” and “clothe,” words: 0 times.
“Food,” or “feed,” words: 0 times.
“Love of Christ,” or “Love of God,” or “Love of the Holy Spirit” phrases: 0 times.
“Love your enemies,” phrase: 0 times.
“Rescued,” word: 0 times.
“Samaritan,” word: 0 times.
“Share the gospel,” or “sharing the gospel” phrases: 0 times.
“Foreign,” or “foreign mission/missions”: 1 time.
“Saved,” word: 1 time. It is from quoted scripture.
“Word of God,” phrase: 1 time.
“Witness,” or “witnessing,” words: 2 times.
“Child,” and “children,” words: 3 times.
“Hope” or any word beginning with “hope-”: 3 times, combined total.
“Medical,”: 3 times.
“Preach the gospel” phrase: 3 times.
“Salvation,” word: 3 times. One is from quoted scripture.
“Holy Spirit,” and “Spirit,” separately, as in referring to the third Person of the Holy Trinity: 4 times, combined total. Two occurrences are quotes from scripture.
“Bible,” word: 5 times.
“Mercy” or any word with the prefix “merci-”: 5 times, combined total.
“Love” or any word beginning with “love-”: 5 times, combined total.
“Country,” and “countries,” words referring to countries other than the U.S.: 6 times.
“Lost,” word: 6 times.
“Earth,” word: 7 times. Five of those are directly from quoted scripture.
“Theology,” word: 7 times.
“Faith” or any word beginning with “faith-”: 9 times, combined total.
“Grace,” not including the name Sovereign Grace Ministries: 9 times.
“Doctrine,” or “doctrinal,” or “doctrinally” words: 10 times, combined total.
“Jesus,” word: 10 times.
“Baptize,” and “Baptizing,” words: 11 times, combined total.
“World,” word: 18 times.
“Disciple,” or “discipling,” or any word beginning with “discipl-” that refers to this in the sense of “disciple” in the Great Commission: 28 times.
“Christ,” word: 37.
“Biblical/Biblically”: 38 times, combined total.
“Serve,” or “serving,” or “servanthood,” words, relating to serving in the church: 67 times.
“God,” word: 77 times.
“Apostle/Apostolic,” or any word beginning with “apost-”: 115 times, combined total.
The name “Sovereign Grace Ministries”: 269. If we subtract the three times their name appears at the bottom of each page denoting copyright info (approx. 150), we are still left with at least 119 times.
“Plant,” or any word or phrase containing this, specifically referring to church planting: 155 times.
While many would fault statistical data like this in forming a conclusion about a written work, I think we can safely note that Dave Harvey is not interested in talking much about anything except how missiology is filtered through SGM’s concept of church-planting: the apostolic team members are in charge. Once again, polity affects even our ministry to the world. It could be seriously argued that Missiology is not about missions so much as it is defending the “apostolic team.”
I was saddened after doing this word and phrase search, and even disgusted by some of it. It’s good to know that in a 46 page document the word “God” was mentioned 77 times. It’s disgusting to know He, the Creator of the Universe, Who is calling us to Himself, is outranked 2x with the 155 total of “Apostles/apostolic/apostolicity,” etc. Harvey does have some mention of medical/mercy missions, but his absorption with the church planting model within his pyramidic matrix all held together by the apostles definitely pervades and sours the entirety of Missiology’s text.
There is a high probability that I have fellow brothers and sisters within SGM that are saddened by the time and energy I put into the above word and phrase search. Beloved, I’m sad that time and energy went into Missiology, a work that loves the sound of its own voice; a work that glorifies the efforts men… a work where God is invited later to the party because it is assumed He is the originator of this pyramid scheme, and the Holy Spirit is virtually ignored.
A Message, a Method, a Model. Proclamation, Integration, Expansion. Focused yet Flexible. Mobile, Purposeful, Relational. Leadership, Plurality, Unity. ASLA. Character, Capabilities, Conduct in the Home, Confirmation in the Church. The Principle of Plurality among elders. The Principle of the Presiding Pastor. The Principle of Partnership with Apostolic Ministry. Musings on the Metaphor. Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers. Peter Piper Picked a Peckle of Pickled Peppers. I must confess I’m sick and tired of the principle of the plurality of potent, acrostical, alliterative, asinine and Juvenile Corporate Americanization of decidedly describing what concretely could be solidly summed up admirably adequate as the Great Commission.
The Gospel, in all of its beauty, power and magnificence, is quite simple. Don’t overcomplicate it.
The following is an excerpt from Missiology that is essentially its heart:
A truly biblical missiology has a sturdy ecclesiology that shapes and guides its methods.18 The New Testament model is for the preaching of the gospel to be directed toward the formation of local churches, which provide for new converts to be baptized, discipled, and taught within the appropriate context of biblical community. Indeed, the Great Commission would make missionaries into church planters—people whose passion for the gospel results in a passion for the church.
It’s not enough simply to preach the gospel and see people converted. The Great Commission is fully satisfied only when converts become anchored in their faith, instructed in the context of the local church, and equipped as ambassadors of Christ. That is, made disciples.
[and Harvey's #18 endnote reads]:
18. Chaney agrees. He writes, “The only way to increase the ratio of Christians to population in any nation is to multiply the number of churches. If evangelicals are to make significant progress in bringing America to Christ, the number of churches must be multiplied.” Charles L. Chaney, Church Planting at the End of the Twentieth Century (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1991) pp.176-177
(Harvey, 16, 43)
Let’s cross-examine Harvey’s text with the remainder of Grudem’s text under the Ministry to the World: Evangelism and Mercy header (picking up right after Grudem’s quotation of Luke 6:35-36):
The point of Jesus’ explanation is that we are to imitate God in being kind to those who are being ungrateful and selfish as well. Moreover, we have the example of Jesus who did not attempt to heal only those who accepted him as Messiah. Rather, when great crowds came to him, “he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them” (Luke 4:40). This should give us encouragement to carry out deeds of kindness, and to pray for healing and other needs, in the lives of unbelievers as well as believers. Such ministries of mercy to the world may also include civic activities or attempting to influence governmental policies to make them more consistent with biblical moral principles. In areas where there is systematic injustice manifested in the treatment of the poor and/or ethnic or religious minorities, the church should also pray and -as it has opportunity- speak against such injustice. All of these are ways in which the church can supplement its evangelistic ministry to the world and indeed adorn the gospel that it professes. But such ministries of mercy to the world should never become a substitute for genuine evangelism or for the other areas of ministry to God and to believers mentioned above. (Grudem, 868)
Grudem and Harvey aren’t just slightly different in their approach… they’re on different planets.
I can’t think of a better way to end this particular post than to quote from Grudem’s QUESTIONS FOR PERSONAL APPLICATION at the end of his “The Nature and Purposes of the Church” chapter in Systematic Theology (question number 4):
To which purpose of the church do you think you can most effectively contribute? Which purpose has God placed in your heart a strong desire to fulfill? (Grudem, 869)
…pk
——————–
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. Leicester, Great Britain: InterVarsity; Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, HarperCollins, 1994.
Harvey, Dave. Missiology: Entering the Field of the Lord (Number 4 of the Sovereign Grace Perspectives Series). Gaithersburg, Maryland: Sovereign Grace Ministries, 2006.
October 15th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Very interesting observations.
Apostles (of the Harvey/Mahaney ilk,) mentioned 2.01 times that of God.
SGM mentioned 1.5 times more than God.
Um…Discipled 5.6 times more than the word love.
Oh, yes, and the absolute necessity of church planting. Now, I think church planting is generally a good idea, but the Bible seems to be more focused on bringing the Gospel to people, churches seemed to be the natural consequence of people becoming Christian; sort of a cart and horse thing, I guess.
Also, and I am becoming redundent, I think sending white people all over the world to patronizingly show brown people how to do church is sort of, well, not the best way to go. I’m more in favor of indigenous people making up their own style of church because much of what we have (SGM or other,) is very distinctly North American and may turn off people in another culture.
October 15th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
“The New Testament model is for the preaching of the gospel to be directed toward the formation of local churches”
Dang, once again, I wish they had been in Israel 2000 years ago so they could have helped the Holy Spirit out. I mean, remember the time the HS made what’s-his-name disappear and then reappear somewhere else? He had been walking beside this other guy in his ride. And the guy in the ride invited the “reappearing” guy in to talk with him about scripture? And then the guy in the ride got saved and then was baptized on the side of the road? And then poof, the disappearing guy disappeared*. I guess it should have gone on to say, “Then the guy in the ride rejoiced because he was going to be part of a local church” or “the guy in the ride rejoiced because he got to come ‘under the authority’ of an SGM like body”. Man, where were the SGM guys when God needed them? If only they were around to “correct” things in the early church.
“Indeed, the Great Commission would make missionaries into church planters—people whose passion for the gospel results in a passion for the church.”
OK, in spite of my earlier sarcasm, I think I am too sad for anymore being smart alecky. I am too grieved. Passion for the church? I had just assumed (cause I’m still an idiot apparently) that the next words after passion would be “for the lost” or “for His creation” or “for Christ” or “for the hurting”. I am too sad, too grieved that we actually believe that the true gospel leads us anywhere but to Christ and love for Him and our neighbors.
“It’s not enough simply to preach the gospel and see people converted. The Great Commission is fully satisfied only when converts become anchored in their faith, instructed in the context of the local church, and equipped as ambassadors of Christ. That is, made disciples.”
There have just been too many disciples who spend their lives isolated in prison and tragically removed from fellowship (for the sin of going to church). They, too, were disciples of Christ. True believers.
For those of us here, let us remember that not only can God save us, connect with us and make us more like Christ even if He allows circumstances to remove us from a church, He can even save us, connect with us and make us more like Christ in spite of the church.
Chaney agrees. He writes, “The only way to increase the ratio of Christians to population in any nation is to multiply the number of churches. If evangelicals are to make significant progress in bringing America to Christ, the number of churches must be multiplied.”
I like the way you ended this post, PK.
“To which purpose of the church do you think you can most effectively contribute? Which purpose has God placed in your heart a strong desire to fulfill? (Grudem, 869)”
It is much better to read than, “If you’re not an apostle you may only serve God in the following ways…” Instead, Grudem’s question allows the Holy Spirit to have his way and do his work in each individual.
*Yes, this is actually the way I remember my bible. “Guys” in “rides” and “poofing here and poofing there”, “big crosses”, “fire and those animals on the altar”, “blood so deep it goes up to their ankles in the temple”, “the dude Jesus loved”, “that guy who kept saying the wrong thing but God used in a big way”
October 15th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
What makes me so sad is knowing that none of my beloved students will ever be called to world missions, if they continue in the path in which they are walking.
They will never stand in front of their congregations, nervous, sharing their call and their need for support. They will never get the joy of watching God pull all the details together for them to go–financial support coming from unlikely places, prayer support coming from people you don’t know.
Their congregation will not throw them going away parties, they will not pass out prayer cards for the fridge, gather email addresses for the prayer letters and updates and funny stories and heartbreaking one, too.
They will not learn another language, struggling to communicate the Gospel with the unreached.
Their churches will never send a team to go visit them in some exotic place, where they pour their lives out translating the Word, or in some busy city, where they invest their lives in medical/mercy missions, or on some campus where they spend their days discipling students and pushing back the effects of the fall.
My students don’t know anything about missions…or parachurch ministries…or corporate efforts to show the Jesus film to millions who have never heard of him…or how men who love airplanes spend their whole live flying around dense jungles that no American has ever heard of, dropping food and hope and love to those below them. They don’t know what Wycliffe is, or Navigators, or Crusade, or World Vision, or US Center for World Missions, or InterVarsity, or YWAM, or Voice of the Martyrs.
They don’t read biographies of great missionaries; mentioning Through Gates of Splendor leaves them with a blank look. Who is Billy Graham? Who is Josh McDowell? Who is Bill Bright? What is China Inland Missions or Christian & Missionary Alliance? Who is Gladys Aylward? What is AIM? Who is Franklin Graham and what is Samaritan’s Purse? Who cares? They are under the delusion that CJ Mahaney is famous–the most important man in the world.
THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!
I almost can’t take it anymore–I feel so overwhelmingly sad for these arrogant little people in their arrogant little world, so disconnected from the Body of Christ, telling their kids that only they know how to do church. The Church is doing ‘church;’ they are missing it, and their children are becoming irrelevent in their generation of believers.
Come Lord Jesus!
October 15th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
DB & Stunned:
Thanks for being the first two out of the gate to respond to this post, and thanks for the words of encouragement. This one, for me, was the most difficult to write emotionally, as it seems the more I do research on this subject, the more I see us at SGM swerving away from the heart of the Cross: compassion for those who need it most, in the areas they need it most, before any and all church-planting playbooks are ever cracked open. Some days I handle this okay, other days I want to pack it in. At ALL times God seems to keep my feet planted.
DB said: “Also, and I am becoming redundent, I think sending white people all over the world to patronizingly show brown people how to do church is sort of, well, not the best way to go. I’m more in favor of indigenous people making up their own style of church because much of what we have (SGM or other,) is very distinctly North American and may turn off people in another culture.”
Keep being redundant. This message needs to be heard again and again. New folks show up at this website, and your words may be the first they see. Give the world Christ, and then let the world open their churches.
Stunned said: “For those of us here, let us remember that not only can God save us, connect with us and make us more like Christ even if He allows circumstances to remove us from a church, He can even save us, connect with us and make us more like Christ in spite of the church.”
Simply an outstanding statement. And 100% true in the cases of heroes like Martin Luther.
…pk
October 15th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Reformed Teacher:
It is never my intention to provoke despair. I do my best to end these series here at the ‘Fuge on an upbeat… unfortunately, the road there is sometimes chock full of items that can be disheartening.
On my worst days, there is still a tiny glimmer of hope. My own church is in the midst of some very positive breakthroughs, to say the least.
I am praying for your students, and for you. God’s grace is not overwhelmed by any arrogance of any degree.
Outstanding list of names. Maybe my fellow SGMers here will see those names and do internet searches, so thank you for posting it, sincerely.
…pk
October 15th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
“Who is Gladys Aylward?”
RT, thank you for mentioning her! What a hero.
October 15th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Did you google her name? What an amazing woman!
October 15th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
I have always thought of her since i first learned that there were actually churches that did not encourage anyone who wasn’t an apostle or wasn’t supported by apostles to go into the mission field. I was horrified at that thought alone, couldn’t God lead someone despite what leaders thought?
Well, that is exactly what He did with her.
Gladys grew up very poor and from an early age worked as a servant. But she believed that the Lord called her to be a missionary to China. She worked hard toward this goal, but was turned down by the China Inland Mission because her “academic background was inadequate”. (I’m still trying to figure out what Jesus’s GPA was to qualify him to die on the cross for me.)
I think most people would have been crushed by that lack of support. Instead, Gladys saved up her meager wages and traveled to China the hard way (over land most of the way through territory in the middle of an undeclared war).
God brought her into situations where NO MAN would have been allowed to travel or go (into the homes, where the women were) AND into situations where most women were not allowed to go (she ran an inn where at night she told stories of this guy named Jesus to men who were traders).
She became so well respected in only a short time that in her second year in the small mountain town, the official called HER to quell a prison riot where the soldiers dared not enter. (That’s what happens when you go around bragging about this God of yours that can keep you safe. People actually might start to beleive you!) Because of her work there, prison reform began in that area.
But that’s not all, Folks. This woman did so much more! So much that a film starring Ingrid Bergman was made, all about her.
Soon she took in a little girl who she saw was malnourished and being “used” by a street beggar. Then a year later, that child brought home a little boy saying that she would eat less so that the boy could have food. Eventually she had a home full of children.
When she had arrived in the region her entire church (all the Christians in that regioin) consisted of her, one old woman, and a Chinese cook. After a short time, the old woman died, cutting membership down by a third.
As the war with Japan (WWII) came to the scene, many more children were orphaned. I won’t go into details, but eventually she led 94 children to safety, over the mountains, as the Japanese streamed into the region, pillaging and raping along the way. She journeyed with the children for more than 12 days, seeing God do His miracles along the way.
God called her to serve in a way that a church could not have. Not only did she save souls through love and the gospel, but she saved those 94 children. At the end of her journey, after delivering the children to safety, she collapsed from Typhoid. Would she have liked to have had an entire church of strong men help her make that journey? I’m guessing yes. But was anyone else there doing it? No. God had called her.
You see, He uses the foolish and weak things of this world to confound the wise and humble the strong. It might make sense to some that God “only” does missions through church building, but the way I see it, He usually has more than one card up His sleeve… no wait, He owns the whole game and the whole deck… so He uses each and every one in His time and in His way.
October 16th, 2008 at 12:08 am
Stunned,
Thank you so much for recounting a beautiful story that I haven’t heard in a while. Gladys was quite a hero.
October 16th, 2008 at 12:23 am
Thank you for sharing the story of Gladys! I have been to China and have met real heros of the faith. I often wonder what SGM would say to those ppl I’ve met. Usually, I cannot watch a missions video without crying because God has placed a deep burden within me for missions. However, I was discouraged when I recently watched a SGM mission video because the only people being sent appear to be for the most part leaders and pastors. Also, a testimony given from a German christian that is now connected with SGM disheartened me. This man (from another culture) appeared to be using all of the SGM lingo. It made me wonder how much of those words were his own? Idk. Why does there appear to be this obsession with taking painstaking measures to be 100% doctrinally sound in speech? This is really troubling me and I am not entirely sure what is happening.
October 16th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Stunned:
Amazing story. Thank you for punctuating the post with it.
…pk
October 16th, 2008 at 8:25 am
My little old Mormon librarian grandmother gave me her biography when I was eight. (Boy, does she eternally regret that!) I read it every year, probably, and can’t wait to meet her one day in eternity.
I was captured by the thought that a little charwoman from London would move heavens and earth to go to China. Such an amazing story. I had never heard about anyone other than our LDS whiteshirts that were missionaries.
Read the book: The Small Woman in first print, Inn of Eighth Happiness in a later printing. Movie, Inn of Sixth Happiness (I guess there was more happiness in the book or something), starring Ingrid Bergman, is good, makes too much of a romance that never got off the ground, but still a great family film and conversation provoking.
Have some SGMers over and watch.
Hey–<brightens considerably>–I’ll have my students over for movie night!!
October 16th, 2008 at 11:24 am
There was a time when I saw many missionary biographies at SGM book tables and book exchanges with SGM folks regarding missionaries. This was throughout the 90’s and early 00s, but those days seem to have faded, from what I can observe.
Current fellow SGMers, what has been your experience regarding this?
…pk
October 16th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Wow, these are all such great posts! Thanks, PK, for continuing the subject on missions.
I think it is so sad that Gladys was not supported by other missionaries, but had to go herself. What great love she had in her heart! Think of those little children whose lives were saved because Gladys obeyed God rather than man. I read about what the Japanese did to the Chinese, horrible, horrible things. Those children were saved from atrocities none of us can imagine. Thanks, Stunned, for repeating the story. I’m going to try to find the book!
October 16th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
FortKnox,
You don’t understand. We all go into moderation. I’ve been in it many times. It isn’t a slam on you. Don’t jump to conclusions.
October 16th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Canary & my fellow ‘Fugees:
A heads up.
Ft Knox/Ombud/Whoever is banned from this site, as he/she has repeatedly dropped bombs here for the sole purpose of watching them destroy things rather than engage in any type of cogent debate about it or making any type of honest contention for the faith. Additionally, the post that was thankfully held in moderation was more of the same bile that ended on the sweet note of Ft Knox ouright calling somebody a liar. This same message defeated the purpose of its point by attacking somebody rather than engaging them.
This troll has made everyone here chase their tails for hours before. While praying for them, neither Jim or I will put up with his/her nonsense any more, as this person isn’t interested in discussion beyond stating their points and then vomiting on someone.
Whatever IP they show up from, the comments will be deleted if they don’t get filtered out first.
…pk
October 16th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Yes, Canary, the Japanese committed such atrocities against the Chinese civilians that the Nazis that were with them were horrified.
It was that bad. And Gladys was that amazing.
Oh, yes, and she was instrumental in getting the practice of foot binding eradicated. Just that alone was service to humanity.
October 16th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Oh, and, PK, you won’t let me play with the troll? I guess it would be cruel to poke him with my sticks while he resides in his little troll cage.
October 16th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
DB,
If PK won’t let you play with the troll, maybe he will let you sic your daughters on him. That’s a bar fight I’d like to watch!
I read a book years back written by a Chinese American who never wanted the suffering of China during WWII by the Japanese to be forgotten. It was called, “The Rape of Nanking”, I think. We thought the Nazis were cruel. OMG.
PK, thanks for protecting the site from the meanies and bullies. Much appreciated!
October 16th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
DB:
…pk
Canary:
Welcome.
…pk
October 16th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
My daughter goes to CMU and one of the first (if not the first, I’ll do some looking,) to get a PhD from CMU was a Chinese engineer that designed a bridge to span the river in Nanking. He blew up his own bridge to hinder the Japanese (I think he was killed soon after for his efforts. They had a little pocket garden in his honor, I’ll look it up.
Goody I get to put this in an edited version. He did blow up the bridge but didn’t die in the process. Here is a link to his biography. http://www.cmu.edu/cmnews/extra/060413_mao.html
October 17th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
DB,
Wow, he certainly lived to a ripe, old age. Thanks for the info!
October 18th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
I think the thing that strikes me the most in the contrast between Grudem and Harvey’s discussion on missions is that Grudem’s is full of life and the breath of the Lord. It moves my spirit. Harvey’s is dry, heady, and without much heart impact.
“The point of Jesus’ explanation is that we are to imitate God in being kind to those who are being ungrateful and selfish as well. Moreover, we have the example of Jesus who did not attempt to heal only those who accepted him as Messiah. Rather, when great crowds came to him, “he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them” (Luke 4:40). This should give us encouragement to carry out deeds of kindness, and to pray for healing and other needs, in the lives of unbelievers as well as believers.” When I read just this small portion quoted from Grudem, I feel the Spirit’s confirmation and conviction. I feel His Love for the lost and desire for us to share in the process of bringing them the gospel. It is easy to understand and simple to do (though our flesh doesn’t always want to cooperate). Everyone can participate. Everyone should participate.
With Harvey’s, I understand what he is saying, but it seems so much more complicated, with too many bullet points and outlines to remember, unless you are an apostle and have the gifting to sort it all out. If I were still a SGM member in good standing, Harvey’s missiology would actually discourage me from wanting to be involved in the SGM version of missions, as I might screw it up, not that I would be allowed to participate anyway. It’s just another area where I need to trust the leadership to know what’s best and not worry myself about such hard things. Yikes.
October 18th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Hi all,
I have a story to tell about a wonderful woman who is being helped by YWAM. She came to our church before it was an SGM church. This tiny little Korean woman had a heart for the North Korean children being starved by Il Sung the dictater there. She started her own restaurant right next door in China to make money to give food and shelter to those in need. She would sneek the babies and children across the border and put them in a secure place. She helped these dear little children find loving homes. She has been put in prison numerous times, In fact when she came to our church, she had just a few days before been released. She was to be put to death but the Lord had better plans. Whenever the guards would taunt her she would tell them she loved them. They would question why and she would tell them because Jesus loves you. She would sing songs to Jesus and it got to the point they thought she was insane so they let her go. When she spoke at our church, you could see the ravages of the treatment in her physical body. There was an after church time where we could speak to her. My husband and I took our Korean adopted children over to her and introduced them to her. With tears in her eyes, she thanked us for taking these children home to love them. We told her they were a gift to us and a day doesn’t go by that I don’t thank God for his gift to us. We asked if we could take her out to lunch to a Korean restaurant. She readily agreed because the prison didn’t serve Korean food (they starved her) and that it had been ages since she had tasted the food of her home. The whole time we were there she watched our children with tears in her eyes. They were tears of thankfulness as well as sorrow. She cannot save them all. But this Godly woman is gladly laying down her life because she was called by her Savior to this mission field.
October 18th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Anxious,
What a beautiful story. A woman working and suffering in obscurity for the sake of the Lord – and you got to buy her lunch! How special!
October 18th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Anxious… INCREDIBLE story. I am so moved and experiencing the GOOD kind of meltdown from all these stories. God bless the many many organizations like YWAM, and the individual foot soldiers you have sprinkled about.
He is merciful and good!
…pk
October 18th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Anxious,
My dear sister, thank you for sharing that story. I’d say I want to be like that woman when I grow up, but I haven’t the courage. (Yet.)
Stunned
and impressed
October 19th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Yes, Anxious. That was a beautiful story. Once again, I’m provoked.
Thank you.
October 19th, 2008 at 8:44 am
Gracie:
Great comments above, especially this:
“With Harvey’s, I understand what he is saying, but it seems so much more complicated, with too many bullet points and outlines to remember, unless you are an apostle and have the gifting to sort it all out. If I were still a SGM member in good standing, Harvey’s missiology would actually discourage me from wanting to be involved in the SGM version of missions, as I might screw it up, not that I would be allowed to participate anyway. It’s just another area where I need to trust the leadership to know what’s best and not worry myself about such hard things. Yikes.”
That’s my primary concern, I believe above everything else: this obsession with doing the formula correctly, even if you happen to make it into the elite club.
This is not the church, by any stretch of the imagination, and it needs to stop.
thanks again,
…pk
October 19th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
“This is not the church, by any stretch of the imagination, and it needs to stop.”
Amen to that, PK!
October 19th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Anxious, what a fabulous story. We have other friends who have adopted internationally–truly a picture of our adoption in Christ. Thank you!
Today in worship we had a member who works with the Gideons speak for a few minutes.
He, (75 yo retired Army Colonel), had just come back from a two week trip to Africa, where he was able to distribute, with his other friends, 73,000+ Bibles. He talked his way into a Muslim school, made friends with the imam, and was allowed to hand out God’s Word to all the students and teachers.
Before he ended, he told a last story: a young teacher at a school came up to him for a Bible. He admitted that he had no idea how to become a believer in Jesus. My friend opened the Word to him, shared the truth of the Gospel with him, and he was saved that day.
I feel so sad when I learn, reading SGM missiology, that these sorts of trips do not bear…what is the term….lasting fruit? What a waste of this man’s time and $$$ !!! I wish we had just waited until one of our pastors could go, instead, and got the local church up and running, first. God certainly cannot be counted on to provide discipleship for his Bride, can he?
October 19th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
RT:
Another amazing story, and GOD BLESS THE GIDEONS! I was away from home at one time, years ago, far from God… when in a hotel room’s nightstand drawer was the scriptures, courtesy of the Gideons. It gave me wonderful and lasting comfort that night, a time I would later recall and know it was one of the matches in the fire of my testimony.
Now that’s missions, folks, right here in the U.S. of A.
And then, to hear that this 75 y/o RT speaks of partcipating in a 73k amount of copies of God’s precious scriptures sprinkled in a country other than his own… that’s driving me to my knees in thankfulness, and a sense of being on holy ground in the wake of such a testimony.
RT you made my month, and perhaps year!
I’m praying for that imam and those students and that teacher!
Praise God and His magnificent power and glory that can save and call ANYONE out of darkness.
To Christ be the glory!
…pk
October 20th, 2008 at 12:57 am
Gracie,
Your observations hit the spot.
Here’s what’s funny-Grudem’s priority is not to move your heart.
He trusts God to do that.
October 20th, 2008 at 1:02 am
RT-your entire post is worth re-quoting.
73K Bibles in two weeks!
I must re-post this portion-
Before he ended, he told a last story: a young teacher at a school came up to him for a Bible. He admitted that he had no idea how to become a believer in Jesus. My friend opened the Word to him, shared the truth of the Gospel with him, and he was saved that day.
The Great ComMISSION!
October 20th, 2008 at 1:09 am
Anxious,
What a wonderful story of God’s grace!
Maybe you should change your name to Barnabas?
My heart is full after reading this thread.
October 20th, 2008 at 1:17 am
PK, canary, et all-
I banned ombud.
I’ll explain tomorrow-he/she has one chance to come clean.
Let’s not forget our first encounter, when, after being backed into a corner, ombub/fort knox, whatever, told us that this was all a game to him/her.
I’ll provide the pertinent link, and ask ombud if “they” want to play fair.
October 20th, 2008 at 1:23 am
I guess it’s clear that we’re back from vacation.
Send your email requests to carole@sgmrefuge.com to see a new gravatar of the tanned and rested Jim & Carole. My smarta** face has received more than enough airtime.
I sat down one morning in august, snapped 3 pics from my web cam, and picked the most jadedly amused/sarcastic-looking of the three.
Go figure….
I’m in sales by trade, but I don’t sell the amazing Carole anything.
That’s your job
I’m thinking that Ellie, Gracie, and Canary could seal the deal.
She’s worth seeing…
I’m armed, and somewhat dangerous (on a good day), so don’t sweat the whole pic on the internet thing…
I promise to wear a decent shirt this time around
October 20th, 2008 at 1:39 am
This post comes at a wonderful time.
PK is the new/current major voice here, obviously for good reason. Since he’s come on board, I’ve trashed everything I’ve written on our planned topics because he is-
just-so-much-better-than I.
I suppose it’s a first among equals thing.
The beauty is that this topic comes during SGM’s major “missions” fund-raiser month.
SGM’s new strategy of turning “mission Sunday” into three consecutive “missions Sundays” was a bright move on their part.
PK’s posts were brighter.
Thank you, my brother!
PK, do you think it’s possible in the foreseeable future to chose a gravatar and stick with it?
October 20th, 2008 at 8:11 am
My gravatars rotate like volleyball teams, don’t they?
Jim and Carole, it is wonderful to have you back and I pray God used your vaycay to refresh the both of you.
…pk
October 21st, 2008 at 8:36 am
Welcome back, Jim and Carole!
October 22nd, 2008 at 11:16 pm
I have been reading Galdys Alyward’s biography, “The Small Woman”, and I can’t put it down. What an amazing woman. She was so full of faith and courage. She spent so much of her life serving alone, in places we would fear to go. She actually changed her citizenship to Chinese to become like the people she was serving. I haven’t read anything so inspiring since Corrie Ten Boom.
She was a true apostle of the faith. She went to China, shared the gospel, drew the new converts together to teach them…now that is true church planting!
October 22nd, 2008 at 11:19 pm
That book changed my life…isn’t she something?
October 23rd, 2008 at 12:42 pm
RT,
Yes! I finished the book last night – a one day read, because I just couldn’t put it down. I especially liked the story about the Lamas who heard of “the God who loves”. They found one verse and put it on their wall but knew nothing more. So they waited until one of the Lamas brought back a bible. Then, the Lord led Gladys and her friend to the Lamas. They let her in, which is a no-no, for women were not allowed. She preached Jesus to these men. Later on, the place was bombed by the Japanese and she never knew what happened to the Lamas.
I do think she was a true apostle (little a). She went out to China with nothing, trusted God to meet her every need, preached the gospel, taught the converts…her passion was to go where ever Christ had not been preached. Through many dangers and deprivation she entrusted her very life to the Lord, just like the original Apostles.
I have added her to the list of people who have effected my life in a deep way. Thanks for bringing her up RT and Stunned.