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#Post#: 11690--------------------------------------------------
The fearless evangelist
By: Billy Evmur Date: April 9, 2020, 9:32 am
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[font=times new roman]I would hate you to think I was always the
fearless evangelist, once I was walking across Kensington Gore
Hyde Park in the wee small hours heading toward my flat in
Hammersmith[/font][font=times new roman] when looking down
Exhibition road I saw a man who was the most drunk person still
walking I have ever seen, he was reeling from one side of the
pavement to the other, a perfect zigzag, then he would stop and
lurch forward headlong. He was in a right old state.[/font]
[font=times new roman]God said "go and speak to him about
Me."[/font]
[font=times new roman]I set off at once and soon was hard on his
heels, but the nearer I got I could see him more clearly and he
was HUGE, well over 6ft tall and built like an outhouse. I drew
abreast with him but instead of speaking to him I bottled and
sped past him up the next side turning and leaning against the
railings watching him go by I begged God to forgive such
cowardice and prayed for his soul.[/font]
[font=times new roman]God said "Go and speak to that man about
Me."[/font]
[font=times new roman]Now when you fail to obey God you do not
always get a second chance so I set off again and soon caught up
with him and once more drew alongside, but I bottled again and
instead of speaking to him sped on by dashing up the next side
road.[/font]
[font=times new roman]"Oh Lord please send somebody more
brave....." but He said "go and speak to him"[/font]
[font=times new roman]I set off a bit more circumspectly this
time, by now he had turned into the Old Cromwell Rd and I
followed him [he of course was totally oblivious to all
this][/font]
[font=times new roman]I drew alongside and passed him but this
time I turned and stepped in front of him and held up my hand
like a policeman. I proferred a tract to him and said "I would
like you to read this, it's about Jesus"[/font]
[font=times new roman]He stood swaying to and fro blinking
owlishly at me, his mouth fell open.[/font]
[font=times new roman]I said "Jesus has totally transformed my
life and He can do the same for you if you will believe in Him
[I think I gabbled a bit] He still does miracles today as He
always did but now He works from inside us, if we will receive
Him into our heart He sets up His kingdom within us and He will
bring new and good people into your life, people who will help
you."[/font]
[font=times new roman]He snatched the tract from me and mumbled
"I'll read it tomorrow morning." but as he tried to pass me I
stepped in front of him again. He was such a sweet natured guy,
a Canadian. A real gentle giant. He almost screamed "I promise,
I promise, I will read it tomorrow, I am much too drunk tonight"
I pointed to the prayer on the tract and promised him it would
change his life forever if he was sincere and let him go.[/font]
[font=times new roman]Some weeks later I was at meeting in
Kensington Temple and the Pastor held up a letter he had
received telling about how this Canadian soldier on his last day
in England had been unceremoniously been dumped by his English
girlfriend and how he had been on his way back to the barracks
rip roaring drunk intent on getting his gun and blowing his
brains out, and he'd have done it but a man from your church
stopped him in the street and told him about Jesus and he got
saved instead. The letter was from Canada.[/font]
[font=times new roman]His mother who had been praying for him
and was Catholic got saved too.[/font]
[font=times new roman]God is great.[/font]
[font=times new
roman]
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9sWEf_6ZS8[/font]
[font=times new
roman]
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biNtUJ4Vxs4[/font]
[font=times new roman]
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?=CcCHInA6UMg
[/font]
#Post#: 12023--------------------------------------------------
Re: The fearless evangelist
By: patrick jane Date: April 16, 2020, 11:15 pm
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Amazing Billy. God is amazing. Ha, you were scared shitless !!!
#Post#: 12509--------------------------------------------------
Re: The fearless evangelist
By: patrick jane Date: May 1, 2020, 12:13 am
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[img]
HTML https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/117095.jpg?w=940[/img]
HTML https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/april-web-only/coronavirus-pandemic-pentecostal-prayer-love-revival.html
Coronavirus Calls for Revival of Real Pentecostalism
Despite errors, Spirit-filled theology can show us how to
respond to the pandemic.
It’s not exactly a secret: Many Pentecostals have responded to
the current pandemic in ways that are both bizarre and
troubling. These responses have overshadowed the sanity and
generosity of many faithful, Spirit-filled Christians and
reinforced the idea that Pentecostal theology is cheap and
silly.
This is unfortunate because Pentecostalism has many gifts to
give. At its best, it is mystical and prophetic and teaches us
to live deeply prayerful lives. Pentecostal theology teaches us
that ministry must begin and end in prayer. It teaches us we
must hold high expectations for God to work in the world, along
with a deep sense of personal and communal responsibility. It
teaches us not to fear the new or idolize the familiar, and that
the divine power of Pentecost is the love revealed in the Cross.
These are all truths the church needs in this current crisis.
Pray like jazz
If you know anything about Pentecostalism, you know about the
prayer. Harvard theologian Harvey Cox compared it to jazz
because of its playful extemporization and collaborative
enthusiasm. Pentecostals believe this improvisation is a way of
keeping rhythm with the Holy Spirit. This is why our prayers
often have the spirit of an old-time revival tent—open on all
sides and thrown up anywhere, anytime, as God leads. Pentecostal
prayer, at its heart, is about radical openness to God, and it
is marked by a readiness to be surprised and to be changed.
This openness in prayer leads Pentecostals to be improvisational
in other ministries as well. When we are faithful to our
calling, we are ready to abandon familiar ways of doing ministry
and make ourselves at home in the company of those we are called
to serve.
We consider the church neither a means to an end nor an end in
itself. Therefore, we are ready to forget familiar ways of
speaking and to learn new languages, both literally and
figuratively, because we expect to hear God speak in ways we
never could have anticipated. This is what it really means to
“speak in tongues.”
It is always hard to know what to say in times of pain and loss.
But when we are faithful to the wisdom we have received, we know
that what we say to others must be shaped first of all by what
we say to God on others’ behalf. Faithful ministry, in other
words, always begins and ends in intercessory prayer.
Even as we try to give good answers to the many difficult
theological questions arising at this time, we should never
forget that if those answers are to be helpful, they must be
rooted in prayer. This is not polite, self-assured prayer, but
raw, unsparing prayer, prayer that laments and protests, demands
and interrogates, begs and invokes—prayer that is radically and
confidently open to God in front of others and to others in
front of God.
I believe the church needs this kind of openness in the midst of
this crisis. We need a “holy boldness,” one that has nothing to
do with living as if we are protected from harm, claiming secret
knowledge about God’s will or asserting power over disasters and
sicknesses, but has everything to do with following the Spirit
into the darkness, coming alongside those who are suffering, and
being Christ to them.
Love like God
Pentecostalism, at its best, is deeply communal and missional.
It knows that love for God cannot be separated from love for
neighbor and that prayer cannot be separated from action. As
theologian Lucy Peppiatt recently observed, Pentecostals not
only believe strongly in God’s involvement in every aspect of
life but also believe—just as strongly—in the call for God’s
people to participate in what God is doing in the world.
In spite of what some might think, this is a constant theme in
Pentecostal theology. Daniel Castelo, professor of theology at
Seattle Pacific University, argues, for example, that
Pentecostal spirituality is a form of mysticism. This is not a
mysticism of withdrawal, but of mediation and intermediation. In
her recent book, The Spirit and the Common Good, Daniela
Augustine, professor of theology at the University of
Birmingham, makes the same point: “The Spirit uplifts the
Christified human life as the visible means of invisible grace.
… Indeed, the healing of the entire cosmos starts from within
hallowed, Spirit-saturated humanity.”
All that to say, Pentecostal ministries are moved by this
twofold desire: to commune deeply with God and to see everyone
and everything else drawn into the same communion. This
mysticism is a source of renewal for the church.
Dale Coulter, professor of historical theology at Regent
University, has shown how something like that has happened
before, in the aftermath of the black death in the Middle Ages.
He argues that in this pandemic, once again, “pastors and
priests need to become spiritual directors, guiding their flocks
as they turn within and find the crucified God.”
Pentecostal theology teaches us to long for the age when all
God’s people will be prophets. But we do not think of prophecy
as a form of magic. We believe true prophecy is not so much
about predicting the future as it is about seeing how God helps
us to care for our neighbors in ways they most desperately need.
True prophecy gives us insight into what has happened and is
happening, what is truly right and truly wrong in the world, and
thus enables us to see into and call forth a better, more
faithful future.
Coming into communion with Christ’s passion in prayer, we will
find ourselves moved with compassion for others into action. The
same Spirit who leads us to turn within, mystically, toward the
crucified Christ, will lead us to turn out, prophetically,
toward those for whom Christ offered and offers himself.
Following the Spirit, we will enter the darkness instead of
denying it, trusting that the light of God is already breaking
forth from its depths. This is what it means to be prophetic,
speaking life into dry bones.
Bless the poor
As a Pentecostal, and a Pentecostal theologian, I feel the need
to be honest about our failures, past and present. I know there
are hard questions to ask about the integrity and effects of our
teachings and practices. And I know this is not a time for
nostalgia or idealism.
But I am convinced that it is a time to return to the faithful
ways that led to the rise of Pentecostal spirituality and
theology in the first place. We need to retune ourselves to the
God who tell us it is a commandment—not a compromise—to love our
neighbors as ourselves, especially when those neighbors are not
like us.
Sadly, many Pentecostals have forgotten the wisdom of their own
tradition. In its beginnings, Pentecostalism was a movement of
the poor and for the poor. The poor always suffer worst in
crises like the one facing us now, so Pentecostals found
themselves at the center of the Spanish flu epidemic in 1918. A
century later, Pentecostalism remains a movement of the poor in
most parts of the world.
But in the US, much has changed. Many of us now work at a remove
from the poor, both geographically and spiritually, and we are
largely out of touch with the material and spiritual needs of
those we are called to serve first. Now is the time to make that
right. And that begins with a return to the deepest, truest
convictions of our mothers and fathers in the faith.
At the revival on Azusa Street, at the very beginning of the
Pentecostal movement, pastor William Seymour put it this way:
“The Pentecostal power, when you sum it all up, is just more of
God’s love. If it does not bring more love, it is simply a
counterfeit. … Pentecost makes us love Jesus more and love our
brothers more. It brings us all into one common family.”
Article continues below
I know there are more than a few counterfeits available today. I
know there is much that Pentecostals have said that is
ridiculous and much that they should have said but haven’t. But
there is another Pentecostalism, a mystical and prophetic
Pentecostalism, which is a gift of the Spirit. And like many of
the Spirit’s gifts, it is offered just as we need it and in ways
we never could have imagined. That is precisely the
Pentecostalism this crisis calls for.
Chris Green is a professor of theology at Southeastern
University and a pastor at Sanctuary Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
His most recent book is Surprised by God.
#Post#: 13231--------------------------------------------------
Re: The fearless evangelist
By: patrick jane Date: May 22, 2020, 9:51 am
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[img]
HTML https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/117412.jpg?w=940[/img]
HTML https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/may-web-only/charles-cotherman-think-christianly-study-centers.html
Amid the Stresses and Strains of Higher Education, Christian
Study Centers Are Thriving
How a postwar evangelical movement to unite mind and heart
spread to campuses across the country.
In the May 1972 issue of Christianity Today, Frank Nelsen, a
history professor from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee,
proposed creating “evangelical living and learning centers for
undergraduate students [to] be built on private property near
large state universities.” These centers would provide students
with space to pursue “an intellectually honest investigation of
the Christian faith and its relation to secular disciplines.”
Nelsen suggested the idea—targeting a niche between campus
ministries, local churches, and Christian liberal arts
colleges—as a solution to what CT had identified a year earlier
as the “Crisis in Christian Education.” The postwar boom in
higher education was waning, and evangelicals were unprepared to
respond. Rather than stick to an aging model, Nelsen asked: “Is
there an educational alternative to the private college for
evangelicals to consider in the light of current economic
stresses and strains?”
The question is, unfortunately, as timely in May of 2020 as it
was in May of 1972. Once again, universities—both public and
private—are facing a tidal wave of new “economic stresses and
strains.” And what of Nelsen’s proposal? In the
almost-half-century since, “evangelical learning centers” have
popped up on dozens of college campuses, from flagship public
institutions such as the University of Virginia and the
University of Wisconsin–Madison to elite private schools
including Yale and Duke. The 30 or so individual centers have
formed a national Consortium of Christian Study Centers, founded
in 2008. While the details of Nelsen’s proposal never came to
fruition (he suggested separate Christian dormitories and
accredited coursework), the idea took on a life of its own.
The path from CT article to national consortium was anything but
straightforward. Charles Cotherman’s new book, To Think
Christianly, is the first comprehensive history of the Christian
study center movement and its many roots in postwar
evangelicalism. Focused on an influential, if small, class of
educated evangelicals pursuing deeper cultural engagement with
contemporary thought, To Think Christianly carefully
reconstructs a vast web of intellectual networks and
institutional struggles that most recent histories of postwar
evangelicalism ignore, resisting the dominant narrative of
evangelical cultural engagement since World War II.
Two New Frameworks
To Think Christianly may be the first time many readers
encounter the institution of the Christian study center.
Cotherman, it should be clear, is exclusively concerned with the
genealogy of “evangelical learning centers.” In the 19th
century, organizations like the YMCA and the Chautauqua movement
fulfilled a similar role for lay Christians. Catholics have
built a vast Newman Center network, and mainline Protestants
founded centers like the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey,
Switzerland, in the late 1940s. Even Christian Science Reading
Rooms resemble Christian study centers. Cotherman ignores this
wider Christian history in favor of explaining contemporary
evangelical study centers in particular. This may rankle some
readers, but the choice also sharpens his focus on a distinct
evangelical engagement with culture that remains understudied.
Evangelical Christian study centers trace their roots to two
progenitors: Francis Schaeffer’s L’Abri community in Switzerland
and Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. While both
were founded outside of the United States, they were deeply
attuned to midcentury American evangelical concerns. Founded in
1955 in the Swiss Alps, L’Abri became a destination for
travelers and wanderers to learn at the feet (or more often at
the cassette tape) of ex-fundamentalist Francis Schaeffer. A
one-time missionary, Schaeffer and his wife, Edith, recognized
the growing appeal of hosting young travelers in their home. As
Cotherman observes, L’Abri’s “home-based hospitality” of
open-ended stays, communal work, and eating together made it “a
working, living, studying, praying community before communal
living became a countercultural standard.”
L’Abri’s “radical hospitality” helped to popularize Schaeffer’s
novel conservative Protestant engagement with art, philosophy,
and culture. By the late 1960s, Schaeffer was a best-selling
author with speaking tours across the United States. Yet there
were limitations. Especially as he became a leader in pro-life
politics in the 1970s, he developed a guru-like aura among his
followers. Rather than engage directly with other thought
leaders, he maintained an insular circle of intellectual
partners. While most historical accounts of Schaeffer linger on
this later phase of political activism, Cotherman emphasizes how
a generation of intellectually inclined evangelicals were
inspired by Schaeffer’s earlier period at L’Abri.
If L’Abri’s hospitality modeled a new type of evangelical
community, Regent College suggested a novel framework for
evangelicals to pursue academic knowledge. Initiated by a circle
of educated Plymouth Brethren in Vancouver, Regent started as a
graduate school for lay Christians, eventually affiliating with
the University of British Columbia. Regent’s founding in 1970
was shaped by its first principal, James M. Houston, a Scottish
geographer who left Oxford for the job. Houston quickly
assembled an impressive faculty, including J. I. Packer and W.
Ward Gasque, which led to growing enrollment.
One of Houston’s early struggles was to maintain Regent’s focus
on relational lay theological training and to resist developing
Regent into a large seminary. As Cotherman puts it, Houston
wanted education “to do away with the trappings of technocracy
in favor of personal relations.” There were many benefits to
this approach. With its mission to lay Christians, Regent was
more welcoming to women (predominantly as students) in an era
when it was almost impossible for women to enroll in evangelical
seminaries. Regent encouraged women and men alike to become
theological thinkers.
Why so much attention directed to this pair of institutions? In
Cotherman’s telling, the twin legacies of L’Abri and Regent
“helped sow an emphasis on hospitality and relationship” for the
study centers that would follow. Moreover, the majority of later
study center founders had some connection to L’Abri or Regent.
These common evangelical roots were revealed through overlapping
interpersonal networks and a shared intellectual agenda. The
relationship of knowledge to faith—of “mind and heart”—was the
umbrella under which each new generation could contemplate
certain core questions: What role does Christian faith play in
the pursuit of academic knowledge? What does it mean to have a
faithful Christian presence in a modern university community?
How should Christian thought form an engineer, a doctor, an
architect?
Cotherman’s other examples—R. C. Sproul’s Ligonier Valley Study
Center in Stahlstown, Pennsylvania, and New College Berkeley
near the University of California (now affiliated with the
Graduate Theological Union)—diverged from the early models.
Ligonier eventually became a national cassette and video tape
ministry that relocated to outside of Orlando, Florida. New
College Berkeley nearly folded in its attempt to gain
accreditation in the 1980s, deciding instead to embed itself in
an existing network of seminaries and theological centers in the
San Francisco Bay area. More closely linked to the contemporary
Christian study center movement is the Center for Christian
Study on the campus of the University of Virginia, which under
the leadership of Andrew Trotter in the 1990s and 2000s
developed the cooperative model between university and study
center that now dominates the movement. (Trotter would become
the first director of the Consortium of Christian Study Centers
in 2009.)
Carrying the Torch
Cotherman’s story largely sidesteps the familiar culture-war and
Christian-right themes that currently receive so much attention
from journalists and historians. Study centers themselves are
scattered across the political spectrum. Schaeffer played a
crucial role in the Christian right until his death in 1984,
while New College Berkeley’s roots are in the evangelical left
of the 1970s.
This diversity does not mean, however, that Cotherman overlooks
the areas where Christian study centers overlapped with
conservative evangelical politics. Many study centers pitched
(and still pitch) themselves as a “shelter” and specialize in
apologetics, creating Christian “bubbles” of students floating
in secular campuses. The US Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling on
Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, which allowed universities
to implement far more muscular anti-bias regulations, only
hardened this posture. According to Cotherman, the decision
aided a “reactionary and isolationist strain” that can work
against stated missions of cooperative academic engagement. And
while the study centers that followed in Regent’s path were
substantially more accessible to women than evangelical
seminaries, most often they have been founded and led by white
men.
Cotherman’s narrative choice is refreshing, suggesting an
alternate story of postwar evangelical cultural engagement that
is challenging, insightful, and, at times, inspirational. Like
all histories, this one is shaped by the questions asked of the
past. The Consortium of Christian Study Centers has recently
experienced remarkable growth, as more than half of its 30
member centers were founded after 2010. To Think
Christianlyreflects this narrative of growth, tracking the
movement’s shift from an “innovation” mindset to a
“multiplication” mindset. It remains unclear if the movement
will continue to grow, or what its broader influence on
evangelical thought will be. Observers beyond Cotherman,
including historians Mark Noll and Molly Worthen, have
highlighted study centers as potential bright spots in an
intellectual landscape darkened by the multiple crises
afflicting evangelical intellectual life and higher education.
These cycles of educational crisis, voiced by Nelsen in 1972,
are, admittedly, here to stay. “Crises are nothing new for the
Christian colleges,” he observed, “their histories are replete
with them.” Cotherman’s excellent book illustrates how there has
been and will continue to be an evangelical impulse to care for
the mind, body, and spirit of these university communities.
Whatever crises lay on the horizon, we can expect a host of
Christian study centers to build creatively on the foundations
laid by previous generations, carrying the torch of evangelical
cultural engagement with the same verve and resilience.
Daniel G. Hummel is an honorary research fellow in the history
department at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a staff
member at Upper House, a Christian study center based there. He
is the author of Covenant Brothers: Evangelicals, Jews, and
U.S.-Israeli Relations (University of Pennsylvania).
#Post#: 13235--------------------------------------------------
Re: The fearless evangelist
By: patrick jane Date: May 22, 2020, 10:00 am
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[img]
HTML https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/117374.png?w=700[/img]
HTML https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2020/may/how-fall-affected-evangelism.html
How the Fall Affected Evangelism
From the account of Adam and Eve’s fall in the garden, there are
at least four reasons why believers may not be sharing the
gospel
David wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the
expanse proclaims the work of his hands” (Ps. 19:1).
Jesus responded to the Pharisees when they told him, “Teacher
rebuke your disciples” by saying, “I tell you, if they were to
keep silent, the stones would cry out” (Luke 19:10).
We learn something extremely important about creation in these
two verses. We learn that creation, by its very nature, is an
evangelist. The heavens “declare,” the expanse “proclaims,” and
the rocks “cry out” in an act of praise to its Creator.
If creation is, by its nature, an evangelist, then it would only
stand to reason that human beings—by their very nature—should be
considered evangelists as well.
Humans were created in the image of God—meant to represent God’s
presence (along with his rule and reign) on planet earth.
Therefore, the heavens weren’t the only thing that was to
declare God’s glory; the expanse wasn’t the only thing that was
to proclaim the work of God’s hands; and the rocks weren’t the
only thing to cry out in response to their Maker.
Humanity was the crown of God’s creation meant to exercise
dominion over the created order, and thus to lead out in the
universal declaration and proclamation of the King of the
Cosmos.
Think about it—way before Israel or the church were brought into
existence and were called to “declare God’s glory among the
nations” (Ps. 96:2) or “Go into all the world and preach the
gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15), God created his
image-bearers to be his evangelists.
Interestingly, the call of God’s people to declare God’s glory
throughout the earth is something that creation, by its very
nature does.
David wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the
expanse proclaims the work of his hands” (Ps. 19:1). Jesus
responded to the Pharisees, when they told him, “Teacher rebuke
your disciples,” by saying, “I tell you, if they were to keep
silent, the stones would cry out” (Luke 19:10).
Paul addressed the fact that God’s “eternal power and divine
nature has been clearly seen since the creation of the world,
being understood through what he has made” (Rom. 1:20).
Creation seems, by both David and Paul’s account, to be batting
.1000 when it comes to declaring God’s glory.
On the flip side, God’s people don’t bat .1000 when it comes to
their responsibility and call to declare God’s glory and gospel
to all the world.
Why is that? The short answer, temptation and sin. We know from
the book of James, temptation and sin are two different—yet
connected—things (James 1:13–15).
Although God’s people have been redeemed and reconciled by the
blood of Jesus, and have been indwelt with the Holy Spirit,
God’s people still struggle with both temptation and sin. Thus,
temptation and sin suppress and prohibit evangelism.
Using the account of humanity’s fall in the garden—where we
clearly see how temptation and sin take our eyes and lives off
God’s glory—I want to share four reasons why God’s people don’t
evangelize.
You won’t evangelize if you’re skeptical of God.
Satan sought to plant seeds of doubt and skepticism in Eve’s
view of God. He wanted her to think that God was holding
out—that He wasn’t as generous or good as she might have
thought.
The reality is, you won’t share what you are skeptical of, and
you won’t declare what you doubt.
If believers are to exercise their evangelistic calling as God’s
people—image-bearers who are redeemed and being restored in
Christ—then they will have to trust in the graciousness,
goodness, and generosity of God. That doesn’t mean they will
fully understand everything in the world or that happens in and
around their life.
Elisabeth Elliott once noted, “Don’t dig up in doubt what you
planted in faith.”
You won’t evangelize if you’re seduced by sin.
James explains in his letter the process of temptation. He
writes, “But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and
enticed by his own evil desire. Then after desire has conceived,
it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown it gives
birth to death” (James 1:14–15).
It wasn’t the serpent’s fault for luring Eve to the tree. He
didn’t force her to come over. It wasn’t the serpent’s fault for
twisting the truth Eve was supposed to know. But it was the
serpent’s intention to plant seductive seeds that tempted Eve to
rebel against God.
The reality is, Eve stayed way too long at the tree. She was
captivated by the product of the tree. She should have fled the
moment the serpent started questioning God’s words. But she
didn’t.
She stayed and ate, and thus from her life and actions dethroned
God. And what becomes your god, becomes your gospel. Why do you
think Eve turned around and gave the fruit to Adam? You’ll share
that which you hold dear.
Billy Sunday once stated, “Temptation is the devil looking
through the keyhole. Yielding is opening the door and inviting
him in.”
When it comes to temptation and evangelism, the more we are
intoxicated to sin against God, the more difficult it will be to
invite sinners to be redeemed by God.
You won’t evangelize if you live in shame.
In their sin, Adam and Eve sought shelter from God when they
heard His footsteps. As a result of their sin, their faith and
security in God quickly turned to fear and shame. And their fear
and shame drove them into hiding.
Today I believe we live in a shame-based culture. The difference
between a guilt culture and a shame culture is—a guilt culture
is more about a person believing they have done badthings,
whereas a shame culture is more about people feeling they are
bad. But this new shame culture we live in is somewhat different
than a traditional shame culture.
David Brooks, writing about this new shame culture, expresses
how “everybody is perpetually insecure in a moral system based
on inclusion and exclusion.” And in this new environmental
system, “There are no permanent standards, just the shifting
judgment of the crowd.”
What does this have to do with evangelism? In short, shame
silences sharing.
For believers who already live in a shame culture—where people
lie in wait ready to shame another—coupled with the shame they
have in their struggle with sin (past or present), it’s no
wonder many live in a prison of silence when it comes to sharing
the Good News.
When people hide in their shame, it is difficult to share the
good news of Jesus to the public.
You won’t evangelize if you experience relational strife.
God graciously draws Adam and Eve out of hiding. How they
respond to His questions reveal the hurtfulness and hostility of
their hearts. They each play the blame game.
Relational conflicts exert negative effects. When things aren’t
going right in life, and the impulse is to blame others—to see
“others” as the problem—relationships are bound to stay off
track and fail to experience positive forward progress.
Relational strife keeps believers and churches from reaching
sinners. I would argue that Jesus knew this, which is why He
prayed, “May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am
in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe
you sent me” (John 17:20–21).
Could relational strife be one of the many reasons why so many
churches fail to reach their communities? I think so.
In closing, at the core, a lack of gospel evangelism is rooted
in temptation and sin. However, the good news is that—through
Jesus and the Spirit’s empowerment—skepticism, seduction, shame,
and strife can subside so that the declaration of God’s glory
and the proclamation of His salvific work in Christ may rise
from the lips and lives of those who are his. And in doing so,
God’s people in joining with creation becomes of symphony of
declaring God’s glory and his gospel!
Josh Laxton currently serves as the Assistant Director of the
Billy Graham Center, Lausanne North American Coordinator at
Wheaton College, and a co-host of the podcast Living in the Land
of Oz. He has a Ph.D. in North American Missiology from
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
The Exchange is a part of CT's Blog Forum. Support the work of
CT. Subscribe and get one year free.
The views of the blogger do not necessarily reflect those of
Christianity Today.
#Post#: 14248--------------------------------------------------
Re: The fearless evangelist
By: patrick jane Date: June 15, 2020, 11:43 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[img]
HTML https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/117732.png?w=700[/img]
HTML https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2020/june/8-things-world-desperately-needs-from-evangelicals-right-no.html
8 Things the World Desperately Needs from Evangelicals Right Now
(Part 1)
It is not difficult to see that our reputation as evangelicals
seems to range somewhere between a bland net-neutrality of
public helpfulness to a raging dumpster-fire of self-interest
that is unceasingly poured out over red-hot cultural coals.
It seems that in recent years, the world’s appreciation for
evangelicals has fast eroded—and perhaps not for the right
reasons. Too often, it’s not our bold and faith-filled
proclamation of the gospel that has been so
off-putting—persecution for that, we should wear as a badge of
honor. No, it’s too often something less inspiring, less noble,
and less selfless. It sometimes (and for too many) seems to boil
down to drawing lines and choosing sides in a culture war.
And now, it is not difficult to see that our reputation as
evangelicals seems to range somewhere between a bland
net-neutrality of public helpfulness to a dumpster-fire of
self-interest that is unceasingly poured out over red-hot
cultural coals. Many of us see the shockwaves of damage
emanating from those of us who have confused our spiritual
allegiances from an eternal Kingdom to a lesser more sensual
political/cultural kingdom. We see it, and we do not want to
share in the same corrupting exchange.
So, what should be our response?
What does the world need to see in those of us who claim the
Kingdom of God as our highest loyalty? What does the world need
to hear from those of us who actively struggle to resist the
fleshly gravitational pull toward selfish cultural tribalism?
What signals must be sent with unmuddled clarity to a world that
increasingly doubts the spiritual authenticity of our
motivations or the righteousness of our actions?
With the confidence and conviction coming from the words of
Jesus, allow me to articulate eight cultural postures that we,
as evangelicals, must wholeheartedly embrace if we are ever to
regain a credible voice. These eight postures were first
articulated by our Kingdom’s King as he, through the weakness of
preaching, distilled the substance of his counter-cultural reign
in eight, beautiful, other-worldly character postures.
1. Cultural Humility.
The world needs to see evangelicals as humble-hearted
Christ-followers who have put to death our self-righteous
postures, and acknowledge that we, too, have no standing before
God other than the gracious grace of Jesus Christ. We are
altogether “poor in spirit” and any strutting of personal virtue
before men is an affront to the sacrifice made by a holy God. We
claim no superiority, no preeminence, no ascendancy. We are, as
evangelicals, a ragged, tattered collection of sin-stained,
spiritual under-achievers. Any virtue coming from our lives is
Christ’s life lived out in me.
And so, being “poor in spirit”, we enter the cultural dialogue
quietly. We don’t have the first word. We don’t demand the last
word. With great humility we listen with open and learning
hearts. In this, Christ prepares us for the next action that he
will require of us.
2. Vicarious Empathy.
The world needs empathetic evangelicals that are marked by a
genuine grief toward those affected by injustice. As my friend
Dhati Lewis often says, “A problem isn’t a real problem until it
becomes your problem.” He is saying that problems aren’t really
problematic until we personally experience their consequences.
For centuries, we as evangelicals have been on the wrong side of
history when it comes to racial justice, and once again we find
ourselves teetering there again. We cannot seem to “mourn” with
those who are afflicted, instead we find all kinds of ways to
legitimize the positions of our hardened hearts as we dig into
the histories of the victims to find some way to justify their
abusers.
But Jesus calls his people to be “mourners” of injustice. To
show empathy for those who have long endured personal
mistreatment, overt discrimination, and dehumanizing prejudice.
When someone holds up a sign that says, “Black Lives Matter,” I
cannot imagine Jesus retorting, “All Lives Matter!” If my
daughter had a bad day and asked me, “Daddy, do you love me?,”
how could I answer her with, “Of course, I love all people.”
That is not a response of love. If a good friend called me in an
emotional state and said, “My dad passed away suddenly last
night.” It would not be a response of love to state a truth
like, “Well, all parents die.” Mourning requires empathy.
Empathy requires selfless love. And selfless love requires us to
be “poor in spirit.”
3. Positional Advocacy.
The world needs to witness selfless evangelicals who channel
their power to those who are powerless. The world is accustomed
to evangelicals grasping for power—in many ways it has sadly
become our defining signature. But it would seem that our lust
for power contradicts the very nature that should characterize
the people of Jesus’ Kingdom—“meekness.” Since “meekness” speaks
of strength under direction, it follows that evangelicals should
leverage their power, not for themselves, but directed on behalf
of those who “mourn.” Our political cause would be for justice,
not for power as a dark end unto itself.
Our call to display a culture of “meekness” also requires a
transference of power by evangelicals. It seems that the public
perception of us as evangelicals is that we are white – but that
is an incorrect opinion. Within evangelicalism there exists
incredible ethnic diversity. Many denominations are starting new
churches of which the majority are not white, but are African
American, ethic, and multi-cultural. But our face is still
white. And as long as we keep the power, biblical ‘meekness’
might never be the way the world would describe us.
4. Righteous Distress.
The world needs evangelicals who are personally desperate for
justice to reign in every sector of society. Jesus describes the
culture of his people as ones who “hunger and thirst for
righteousness.” The righteousness that we yearn for is the
Gospel working its way through my life and correcting everything
that doesn’t look like Jesus. But that internal correction
always has outward ethical implications. I cannot “hunger and
thirst for righteousness”, and at the same time, be comfortable
and at ease with the unrighteous injustice that exists around
me. There is no comfort with injustice. It causes distress. We
“mourn,” but we also move.
Our righteous distress turns our attitudes into actions. We are
no longer quiet when seeing or hearing of injustice. We speak
with the authority of Christ. When darkness spits its ugly
venom— further marginalizing people or groups—the Christ
follower demands an accounting. Who agrees with this? Certainly
not anyone who claims to bear the name of Christ.
Can evangelicals regain credibility among a world that is
desperate for the Good News we claim to know? Perhaps. To the
degree that we demonstrate cultural humility, vicarious empathy,
positional advocacy, righteous distress, (and the four other
counter-cultural characteristics of Kingdom people we will look
at next Monday) we will find footing.
Until then, may God give us the grace to do nothing from selfish
ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more
significant than ourselves.
Jeff Christopherson is a church planter, pastor, author and
Missiologist at the Send Institute - an interdenominational
church planting and evangelism think tank.
#Post#: 14455--------------------------------------------------
Re: The fearless evangelist
By: patrick jane Date: June 23, 2020, 7:58 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[img]
HTML https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/117912.png?w=700[/img]
HTML https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2020/june/8-things-world-desperately-needs-from-evangelicals-2.html
8 Things the World Desperately Needs from Evangelicals Right Now
(Part 2)
God has more work to do in us.
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times}p.p2
{margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times;
min-height: 14.0px}p.p3 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 7.2px; font:
12.0px Times; min-height: 14.0px}p.p4 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px
7.2px; font: 12.0px Times}span.s1 {text-decoration:
underline}The country was divided into three culturally distinct
sociological groupings. There were those with power. For the
most part, these were ungodly, corrupt, and self-serving leaders
who craved power for power’s sake and would do anything to be
near it, to seize it, and to keep it. There were those with
religious power. Often, these leaders would carefully craft
messages that played well on both sides as they nurtured their
sacred/secular influence – largely for their own benefit. And
there were those with no power. This vulnerable class ranged
from sincere and devout God-fearing citizens, who earnestly
desired to live with principled fidelity, to the piously
pragmatic, who were easily manipulated by their own appetites
for personal security and economic wellbeing.
This was the world to which Jesus introduced his worldview. His
Kingdom ethic found no appeal to those with power – it was an
affront to the political class who saw no need to forgive or be
forgiven. It also was uninviting to those with religious power
as it reordered the nature of true spirituality from the
outwardly superficial to matters of internal motivation. To
those without power, but who craved the security that worldly
power brings, Jesus’ words were nonsensical – offering little in
practical expediency. But to those who were hungry for a life of
spiritual and physical congruency, Jesus’ words were light and
truth and hope all wrapped up in one awe-inspiring heavenly
revelation of a sermon.
So, what about today?
I am convinced, that today, in this moment, there is a growing
hunger for a gospel message of spiritual, physical and social
coherence that is greater than any other season in living
memory. As religious memory has been wiped from geography after
geography, its vacuum has been filled with a longing for
purpose, for meaning, for the eternal. This hunger can be seen
marching on the streets for a more evenhanded justice. It can be
heard in the longing voices which selflessly intercede on behalf
of others. And it can be felt in the angst of bewildered
advocates who bolster heartbroken mourners of sons wrongly
taken.
And, where are we?
Our social media feeds that are peppered with indignant
evangelicals justifying, excusing, blaming and dodging seem to
declare that we are completely detached and oblivious to the
eternal hunger that surrounds us. Like the religious leaders in
Jesus’ day, too many of us seem preoccupied with what we might
lose to ever give serious thought to what God might be doing.
How then should we live?
There are eight postures which were articulated by King Jesus as
he distilled the substance of his counter-cultural reign into
eight beautiful other-worldly character postures. Last week, we
examined the first four in Part 1:
1. Cultural Humility. The world needs to see evangelicals as
humble-hearted Christ-followers who have put to death our
self-righteous postures, and acknowledge that we, too, have no
standing before God other than the gracious grace of Jesus
Christ.
2. Vicarious Empathy. The world needs empathetic evangelicals
that are marked by a genuine grief toward those affected by
injustice.
3. Positional Advocacy. The world needs to witness selfless
evangelicals who channel their power to those who are powerless.
4. Righteous Distress. The world needs evangelicals who are
personally desperate for justice to reign in every sector of
society.
To the degree that we, as evangelicals, demonstrate cultural
humility, vicarious empathy, positional advocacy, and righteous
distress, we will begin to find footing. Our hearts will soften,
and we will begin to see the world as it is – as Jesus sees it.
But our perspective is still incomplete.
God has more work to do in us.
5. Grace-filled Generosity. The world needs to see merciful
evangelicals that demonstrate grace toward those who don’t meet
our standards, being fully aware that we do not come close to
meeting God’s requirements. Who should be the most merciful,
generous and forgiving people in society? Surely anyone who has
been forgiven for committing a capital offense. Romans 3:23 and
6:23 says that I am the condemned who was mercifully forgiven.
Shouldn’t the “mercy-ed” instinctively be merciful?
So, we as God’s people, are divinely required to dismount our
high horses of self-righteousness and vividly recall our own
crimes that crucified the sinless Lamb of God. With that memory
front of mind, we look at the harvest fields with different
eyes. Our instinctive scripts naturally morph from an angry “law
and order” to an empathetic “justice and equity.” We become
inherently merciful, because we, ourselves, have been shown
infinite mercy.
6. Introspective Sincerity. The world needs repentant
evangelicals who have an honest grasp of our own shortcomings
and fully desire God’s mind to inform our perspectives. To be
“pure in heart” requires a continual renewing of the mind. This
“new mind” (meta-noia) is a repentant mind. It allows everything
that doesn’t conform to the image of Christ to be burned away.
The pure heart that remains is the mind of Christ – we have His
perspective on all things.
But Jesus’ perspective seems difficult to understand when forced
to peer through the hardwood of a cultural log. Today,
evangelicals embracing Jesus’ requirement of introspective
sincerity will be labeled ‘lefties’ and ‘liberals’ – they will
be maltreated and publicly diminished. Their advocacy for
sensitivity toward the vulnerable will not be accepted by those
who cannot seem to recall ever receiving mercy. Those who look
at this moment exclusively through a socio-cultural log can only
see a culture war. For these culture-warriors, it is a battle to
be won, not an opportunity to learn, understand, repent, and
heal. And just as Jesus promised, they will not see God.
7. Unifying Respect. The world needs “peacemaking” evangelicals
who have spiritual instincts to unite communities instead of
further exacerbating existing divisions. To be peacemakers, we
start with personal humility and mutual respect toward others
because we have already come to grips with the fact that we,
ourselves, are destitute in spirit. This unifying impulse marks
us as distinctive from the cultural tribalists who trade in
dispute, discord, and division.
What greater example of unifying respect can we envisage than
the Author of Creation sacrificing himself on our behalf so that
we might have peace with God. In fact, Jesus said that those
with the instincts for peacemaking will be recognized as “sons
of God.” So, when evangelicals are recognized by the world as
instigators of division (again, not for our boldness in
declaring the gospel of grace, but for our insistence on
maintaining cultural preferences) whose spiritual children are
we perceived to be?
8. Prophetic Resolve. The world needs prophetic evangelicals who
are willing to pay the high price for standing for Kingdom of
God instead of yielding all allegiances to religious, cultural,
or political kingdoms in order to retain cultural dominance.
Jesus incentivized prophetic resolve by promising that those who
are “persecuted for righteousness” are themselves partakers in
the kingdom of heaven.
So, Jesus calls his people toward prophetic resolve. And yes,
there will always be a price to pay when choosing the Kingdom of
God over the sacred fiefdoms of men. Many that I know are paying
that price now. Many more will lay down their livelihoods,
credentials, and reputations when they raise their prophetic
voices and speak for their ultimate patriotism. Earthly
persecution always follows Kingdom allegiance, we should not be
surprised by that. Perhaps our surprise should come when we find
no friction, no quarrel, and no persecution from a religiousy
culture that isn’t marked by Jesus’ counter-cultural values.
So, what does the world need from evangelicals right now? It is
an either/or prospect. They need to either see us as
representing Jesus’ Kingdom, or not see us representing at all.
Jeff Christopherson is a church planter, pastor, author and
Missiologist at the Send Institute - an interdenominational
church planting and evangelism think tank.
[1] See Matthew 5:3-12
[2] In Matthew 18, Peter wanted to know the limits of his
forgiveness responsibility. In Jesus’ answer recorded in vs.
22-35, he turns the equation upside-down. In Jesus’ Kingdom,
mercy is not optional behavior, but is in fact the patriotic
fruit that validates our citizenship.
[3] Romans 12:1-2
[4] Matthew 7:1-5
[5] 2 Timothy 3:12
#Post#: 14486--------------------------------------------------
Re: The fearless evangelist
By: guest8 Date: June 23, 2020, 9:20 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=patrick jane link=topic=889.msg14455#msg14455
date=1592917091]
[img]
HTML https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/117912.png?w=700[/img]
HTML https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2020/june/8-things-world-desperately-needs-from-evangelicals-2.html
8 Things the World Desperately Needs from Evangelicals Right Now
(Part 2)
God has more work to do in us.
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times}p.p2
{margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times;
min-height: 14.0px}p.p3 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 7.2px; font:
12.0px Times; min-height: 14.0px}p.p4 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px
7.2px; font: 12.0px Times}span.s1 {text-decoration:
underline}The country was divided into three culturally distinct
sociological groupings. There were those with power. For the
most part, these were ungodly, corrupt, and self-serving leaders
who craved power for power’s sake and would do anything to be
near it, to seize it, and to keep it. There were those with
religious power. Often, these leaders would carefully craft
messages that played well on both sides as they nurtured their
sacred/secular influence – largely for their own benefit. And
there were those with no power. This vulnerable class ranged
from sincere and devout God-fearing citizens, who earnestly
desired to live with principled fidelity, to the piously
pragmatic, who were easily manipulated by their own appetites
for personal security and economic wellbeing.
This was the world to which Jesus introduced his worldview. His
Kingdom ethic found no appeal to those with power – it was an
affront to the political class who saw no need to forgive or be
forgiven. It also was uninviting to those with religious power
as it reordered the nature of true spirituality from the
outwardly superficial to matters of internal motivation. To
those without power, but who craved the security that worldly
power brings, Jesus’ words were nonsensical – offering little in
practical expediency. But to those who were hungry for a life of
spiritual and physical congruency, Jesus’ words were light and
truth and hope all wrapped up in one awe-inspiring heavenly
revelation of a sermon.
So, what about today?
I am convinced, that today, in this moment, there is a growing
hunger for a gospel message of spiritual, physical and social
coherence that is greater than any other season in living
memory. As religious memory has been wiped from geography after
geography, its vacuum has been filled with a longing for
purpose, for meaning, for the eternal. This hunger can be seen
marching on the streets for a more evenhanded justice. It can be
heard in the longing voices which selflessly intercede on behalf
of others. And it can be felt in the angst of bewildered
advocates who bolster heartbroken mourners of sons wrongly
taken.
And, where are we?
Our social media feeds that are peppered with indignant
evangelicals justifying, excusing, blaming and dodging seem to
declare that we are completely detached and oblivious to the
eternal hunger that surrounds us. Like the religious leaders in
Jesus’ day, too many of us seem preoccupied with what we might
lose to ever give serious thought to what God might be doing.
How then should we live?
There are eight postures which were articulated by King Jesus as
he distilled the substance of his counter-cultural reign into
eight beautiful other-worldly character postures. Last week, we
examined the first four in Part 1:
1. Cultural Humility. The world needs to see evangelicals as
humble-hearted Christ-followers who have put to death our
self-righteous postures, and acknowledge that we, too, have no
standing before God other than the gracious grace of Jesus
Christ.
2. Vicarious Empathy. The world needs empathetic evangelicals
that are marked by a genuine grief toward those affected by
injustice.
3. Positional Advocacy. The world needs to witness selfless
evangelicals who channel their power to those who are powerless.
4. Righteous Distress. The world needs evangelicals who are
personally desperate for justice to reign in every sector of
society.
To the degree that we, as evangelicals, demonstrate cultural
humility, vicarious empathy, positional advocacy, and righteous
distress, we will begin to find footing. Our hearts will soften,
and we will begin to see the world as it is – as Jesus sees it.
But our perspective is still incomplete.
God has more work to do in us.
5. Grace-filled Generosity. The world needs to see merciful
evangelicals that demonstrate grace toward those who don’t meet
our standards, being fully aware that we do not come close to
meeting God’s requirements. Who should be the most merciful,
generous and forgiving people in society? Surely anyone who has
been forgiven for committing a capital offense. Romans 3:23 and
6:23 says that I am the condemned who was mercifully forgiven.
Shouldn’t the “mercy-ed” instinctively be merciful?
So, we as God’s people, are divinely required to dismount our
high horses of self-righteousness and vividly recall our own
crimes that crucified the sinless Lamb of God. With that memory
front of mind, we look at the harvest fields with different
eyes. Our instinctive scripts naturally morph from an angry “law
and order” to an empathetic “justice and equity.” We become
inherently merciful, because we, ourselves, have been shown
infinite mercy.
6. Introspective Sincerity. The world needs repentant
evangelicals who have an honest grasp of our own shortcomings
and fully desire God’s mind to inform our perspectives. To be
“pure in heart” requires a continual renewing of the mind. This
“new mind” (meta-noia) is a repentant mind. It allows everything
that doesn’t conform to the image of Christ to be burned away.
The pure heart that remains is the mind of Christ – we have His
perspective on all things.
But Jesus’ perspective seems difficult to understand when forced
to peer through the hardwood of a cultural log. Today,
evangelicals embracing Jesus’ requirement of introspective
sincerity will be labeled ‘lefties’ and ‘liberals’ – they will
be maltreated and publicly diminished. Their advocacy for
sensitivity toward the vulnerable will not be accepted by those
who cannot seem to recall ever receiving mercy. Those who look
at this moment exclusively through a socio-cultural log can only
see a culture war. For these culture-warriors, it is a battle to
be won, not an opportunity to learn, understand, repent, and
heal. And just as Jesus promised, they will not see God.
7. Unifying Respect. The world needs “peacemaking” evangelicals
who have spiritual instincts to unite communities instead of
further exacerbating existing divisions. To be peacemakers, we
start with personal humility and mutual respect toward others
because we have already come to grips with the fact that we,
ourselves, are destitute in spirit. This unifying impulse marks
us as distinctive from the cultural tribalists who trade in
dispute, discord, and division.
What greater example of unifying respect can we envisage than
the Author of Creation sacrificing himself on our behalf so that
we might have peace with God. In fact, Jesus said that those
with the instincts for peacemaking will be recognized as “sons
of God.” So, when evangelicals are recognized by the world as
instigators of division (again, not for our boldness in
declaring the gospel of grace, but for our insistence on
maintaining cultural preferences) whose spiritual children are
we perceived to be?
8. Prophetic Resolve. The world needs prophetic evangelicals who
are willing to pay the high price for standing for Kingdom of
God instead of yielding all allegiances to religious, cultural,
or political kingdoms in order to retain cultural dominance.
Jesus incentivized prophetic resolve by promising that those who
are “persecuted for righteousness” are themselves partakers in
the kingdom of heaven.
So, Jesus calls his people toward prophetic resolve. And yes,
there will always be a price to pay when choosing the Kingdom of
God over the sacred fiefdoms of men. Many that I know are paying
that price now. Many more will lay down their livelihoods,
credentials, and reputations when they raise their prophetic
voices and speak for their ultimate patriotism. Earthly
persecution always follows Kingdom allegiance, we should not be
surprised by that. Perhaps our surprise should come when we find
no friction, no quarrel, and no persecution from a religiousy
culture that isn’t marked by Jesus’ counter-cultural values.
So, what does the world need from evangelicals right now? It is
an either/or prospect. They need to either see us as
representing Jesus’ Kingdom, or not see us representing at all.
Jeff Christopherson is a church planter, pastor, author and
Missiologist at the Send Institute - an interdenominational
church planting and evangelism think tank.
[1] See Matthew 5:3-12
[2] In Matthew 18, Peter wanted to know the limits of his
forgiveness responsibility. In Jesus’ answer recorded in vs.
22-35, he turns the equation upside-down. In Jesus’ Kingdom,
mercy is not optional behavior, but is in fact the patriotic
fruit that validates our citizenship.
[3] Romans 12:1-2
[4] Matthew 7:1-5
[5] 2 Timothy 3:12
[/quote]
Interesting view, not shared with this poster.
Blade
#Post#: 14558--------------------------------------------------
Re: The fearless evangelist
By: Billy Evmur Date: June 25, 2020, 4:30 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Bladerunner link=topic=889.msg14486#msg14486
date=1592965234]
[quote author=patrick jane link=topic=889.msg14455#msg14455
date=1592917091]
[img]
HTML https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/117912.png?w=700[/img]
HTML https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2020/june/8-things-world-desperately-needs-from-evangelicals-2.html
8 Things the World Desperately Needs from Evangelicals Right Now
(Part 2)
God has more work to do in us.
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times}p.p2
{margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times;
min-height: 14.0px}p.p3 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 7.2px; font:
12.0px Times; min-height: 14.0px}p.p4 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px
7.2px; font: 12.0px Times}span.s1 {text-decoration:
underline}The country was divided into three culturally distinct
sociological groupings. There were those with power. For the
most part, these were ungodly, corrupt, and self-serving leaders
who craved power for power’s sake and would do anything to be
near it, to seize it, and to keep it. There were those with
religious power. Often, these leaders would carefully craft
messages that played well on both sides as they nurtured their
sacred/secular influence – largely for their own benefit. And
there were those with no power. This vulnerable class ranged
from sincere and devout God-fearing citizens, who earnestly
desired to live with principled fidelity, to the piously
pragmatic, who were easily manipulated by their own appetites
for personal security and economic wellbeing.
This was the world to which Jesus introduced his worldview. His
Kingdom ethic found no appeal to those with power – it was an
affront to the political class who saw no need to forgive or be
forgiven. It also was uninviting to those with religious power
as it reordered the nature of true spirituality from the
outwardly superficial to matters of internal motivation. To
those without power, but who craved the security that worldly
power brings, Jesus’ words were nonsensical – offering little in
practical expediency. But to those who were hungry for a life of
spiritual and physical congruency, Jesus’ words were light and
truth and hope all wrapped up in one awe-inspiring heavenly
revelation of a sermon.
So, what about today?
I am convinced, that today, in this moment, there is a growing
hunger for a gospel message of spiritual, physical and social
coherence that is greater than any other season in living
memory. As religious memory has been wiped from geography after
geography, its vacuum has been filled with a longing for
purpose, for meaning, for the eternal. This hunger can be seen
marching on the streets for a more evenhanded justice. It can be
heard in the longing voices which selflessly intercede on behalf
of others. And it can be felt in the angst of bewildered
advocates who bolster heartbroken mourners of sons wrongly
taken.
And, where are we?
Our social media feeds that are peppered with indignant
evangelicals justifying, excusing, blaming and dodging seem to
declare that we are completely detached and oblivious to the
eternal hunger that surrounds us. Like the religious leaders in
Jesus’ day, too many of us seem preoccupied with what we might
lose to ever give serious thought to what God might be doing.
How then should we live?
There are eight postures which were articulated by King Jesus as
he distilled the substance of his counter-cultural reign into
eight beautiful other-worldly character postures. Last week, we
examined the first four in Part 1:
1. Cultural Humility. The world needs to see evangelicals as
humble-hearted Christ-followers who have put to death our
self-righteous postures, and acknowledge that we, too, have no
standing before God other than the gracious grace of Jesus
Christ.
2. Vicarious Empathy. The world needs empathetic evangelicals
that are marked by a genuine grief toward those affected by
injustice.
3. Positional Advocacy. The world needs to witness selfless
evangelicals who channel their power to those who are powerless.
4. Righteous Distress. The world needs evangelicals who are
personally desperate for justice to reign in every sector of
society.
To the degree that we, as evangelicals, demonstrate cultural
humility, vicarious empathy, positional advocacy, and righteous
distress, we will begin to find footing. Our hearts will soften,
and we will begin to see the world as it is – as Jesus sees it.
But our perspective is still incomplete.
God has more work to do in us.
5. Grace-filled Generosity. The world needs to see merciful
evangelicals that demonstrate grace toward those who don’t meet
our standards, being fully aware that we do not come close to
meeting God’s requirements. Who should be the most merciful,
generous and forgiving people in society? Surely anyone who has
been forgiven for committing a capital offense. Romans 3:23 and
6:23 says that I am the condemned who was mercifully forgiven.
Shouldn’t the “mercy-ed” instinctively be merciful?
So, we as God’s people, are divinely required to dismount our
high horses of self-righteousness and vividly recall our own
crimes that crucified the sinless Lamb of God. With that memory
front of mind, we look at the harvest fields with different
eyes. Our instinctive scripts naturally morph from an angry “law
and order” to an empathetic “justice and equity.” We become
inherently merciful, because we, ourselves, have been shown
infinite mercy.
6. Introspective Sincerity. The world needs repentant
evangelicals who have an honest grasp of our own shortcomings
and fully desire God’s mind to inform our perspectives. To be
“pure in heart” requires a continual renewing of the mind. This
“new mind” (meta-noia) is a repentant mind. It allows everything
that doesn’t conform to the image of Christ to be burned away.
The pure heart that remains is the mind of Christ – we have His
perspective on all things.
But Jesus’ perspective seems difficult to understand when forced
to peer through the hardwood of a cultural log. Today,
evangelicals embracing Jesus’ requirement of introspective
sincerity will be labeled ‘lefties’ and ‘liberals’ – they will
be maltreated and publicly diminished. Their advocacy for
sensitivity toward the vulnerable will not be accepted by those
who cannot seem to recall ever receiving mercy. Those who look
at this moment exclusively through a socio-cultural log can only
see a culture war. For these culture-warriors, it is a battle to
be won, not an opportunity to learn, understand, repent, and
heal. And just as Jesus promised, they will not see God.
7. Unifying Respect. The world needs “peacemaking” evangelicals
who have spiritual instincts to unite communities instead of
further exacerbating existing divisions. To be peacemakers, we
start with personal humility and mutual respect toward others
because we have already come to grips with the fact that we,
ourselves, are destitute in spirit. This unifying impulse marks
us as distinctive from the cultural tribalists who trade in
dispute, discord, and division.
What greater example of unifying respect can we envisage than
the Author of Creation sacrificing himself on our behalf so that
we might have peace with God. In fact, Jesus said that those
with the instincts for peacemaking will be recognized as “sons
of God.” So, when evangelicals are recognized by the world as
instigators of division (again, not for our boldness in
declaring the gospel of grace, but for our insistence on
maintaining cultural preferences) whose spiritual children are
we perceived to be?
8. Prophetic Resolve. The world needs prophetic evangelicals who
are willing to pay the high price for standing for Kingdom of
God instead of yielding all allegiances to religious, cultural,
or political kingdoms in order to retain cultural dominance.
Jesus incentivized prophetic resolve by promising that those who
are “persecuted for righteousness” are themselves partakers in
the kingdom of heaven.
So, Jesus calls his people toward prophetic resolve. And yes,
there will always be a price to pay when choosing the Kingdom of
God over the sacred fiefdoms of men. Many that I know are paying
that price now. Many more will lay down their livelihoods,
credentials, and reputations when they raise their prophetic
voices and speak for their ultimate patriotism. Earthly
persecution always follows Kingdom allegiance, we should not be
surprised by that. Perhaps our surprise should come when we find
no friction, no quarrel, and no persecution from a religiousy
culture that isn’t marked by Jesus’ counter-cultural values.
So, what does the world need from evangelicals right now? It is
an either/or prospect. They need to either see us as
representing Jesus’ Kingdom, or not see us representing at all.
Jeff Christopherson is a church planter, pastor, author and
Missiologist at the Send Institute - an interdenominational
church planting and evangelism think tank.
[1] See Matthew 5:3-12
[2] In Matthew 18, Peter wanted to know the limits of his
forgiveness responsibility. In Jesus’ answer recorded in vs.
22-35, he turns the equation upside-down. In Jesus’ Kingdom,
mercy is not optional behavior, but is in fact the patriotic
fruit that validates our citizenship.
[3] Romans 12:1-2
[4] Matthew 7:1-5
[5] 2 Timothy 3:12
[/quote]
Interesting view, not shared with this poster.
Blade
[/quote]
nor this one
#Post#: 14559--------------------------------------------------
Re: The fearless evangelist
By: patrick jane Date: June 25, 2020, 4:48 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Billy Evmur link=topic=889.msg14558#msg14558
date=1593120606]
[quote author=Bladerunner link=topic=889.msg14486#msg14486
date=1592965234]
[quote author=patrick jane link=topic=889.msg14455#msg14455
date=1592917091]
[img]
HTML https://www-images.christianitytoday.com/images/117912.png?w=700[/img]
HTML https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2020/june/8-things-world-desperately-needs-from-evangelicals-2.html
8 Things the World Desperately Needs from Evangelicals Right Now
(Part 2)
God has more work to do in us.
p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times}p.p2
{margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times;
min-height: 14.0px}p.p3 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 7.2px; font:
12.0px Times; min-height: 14.0px}p.p4 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px
7.2px; font: 12.0px Times}span.s1 {text-decoration:
underline}The country was divided into three culturally distinct
sociological groupings. There were those with power. For the
most part, these were ungodly, corrupt, and self-serving leaders
who craved power for power’s sake and would do anything to be
near it, to seize it, and to keep it. There were those with
religious power. Often, these leaders would carefully craft
messages that played well on both sides as they nurtured their
sacred/secular influence – largely for their own benefit. And
there were those with no power. This vulnerable class ranged
from sincere and devout God-fearing citizens, who earnestly
desired to live with principled fidelity, to the piously
pragmatic, who were easily manipulated by their own appetites
for personal security and economic wellbeing.
This was the world to which Jesus introduced his worldview. His
Kingdom ethic found no appeal to those with power – it was an
affront to the political class who saw no need to forgive or be
forgiven. It also was uninviting to those with religious power
as it reordered the nature of true spirituality from the
outwardly superficial to matters of internal motivation. To
those without power, but who craved the security that worldly
power brings, Jesus’ words were nonsensical – offering little in
practical expediency. But to those who were hungry for a life of
spiritual and physical congruency, Jesus’ words were light and
truth and hope all wrapped up in one awe-inspiring heavenly
revelation of a sermon.
So, what about today?
I am convinced, that today, in this moment, there is a growing
hunger for a gospel message of spiritual, physical and social
coherence that is greater than any other season in living
memory. As religious memory has been wiped from geography after
geography, its vacuum has been filled with a longing for
purpose, for meaning, for the eternal. This hunger can be seen
marching on the streets for a more evenhanded justice. It can be
heard in the longing voices which selflessly intercede on behalf
of others. And it can be felt in the angst of bewildered
advocates who bolster heartbroken mourners of sons wrongly
taken.
And, where are we?
Our social media feeds that are peppered with indignant
evangelicals justifying, excusing, blaming and dodging seem to
declare that we are completely detached and oblivious to the
eternal hunger that surrounds us. Like the religious leaders in
Jesus’ day, too many of us seem preoccupied with what we might
lose to ever give serious thought to what God might be doing.
How then should we live?
There are eight postures which were articulated by King Jesus as
he distilled the substance of his counter-cultural reign into
eight beautiful other-worldly character postures. Last week, we
examined the first four in Part 1:
1. Cultural Humility. The world needs to see evangelicals as
humble-hearted Christ-followers who have put to death our
self-righteous postures, and acknowledge that we, too, have no
standing before God other than the gracious grace of Jesus
Christ.
2. Vicarious Empathy. The world needs empathetic evangelicals
that are marked by a genuine grief toward those affected by
injustice.
3. Positional Advocacy. The world needs to witness selfless
evangelicals who channel their power to those who are powerless.
4. Righteous Distress. The world needs evangelicals who are
personally desperate for justice to reign in every sector of
society.
To the degree that we, as evangelicals, demonstrate cultural
humility, vicarious empathy, positional advocacy, and righteous
distress, we will begin to find footing. Our hearts will soften,
and we will begin to see the world as it is – as Jesus sees it.
But our perspective is still incomplete.
God has more work to do in us.
5. Grace-filled Generosity. The world needs to see merciful
evangelicals that demonstrate grace toward those who don’t meet
our standards, being fully aware that we do not come close to
meeting God’s requirements. Who should be the most merciful,
generous and forgiving people in society? Surely anyone who has
been forgiven for committing a capital offense. Romans 3:23 and
6:23 says that I am the condemned who was mercifully forgiven.
Shouldn’t the “mercy-ed” instinctively be merciful?
So, we as God’s people, are divinely required to dismount our
high horses of self-righteousness and vividly recall our own
crimes that crucified the sinless Lamb of God. With that memory
front of mind, we look at the harvest fields with different
eyes. Our instinctive scripts naturally morph from an angry “law
and order” to an empathetic “justice and equity.” We become
inherently merciful, because we, ourselves, have been shown
infinite mercy.
6. Introspective Sincerity. The world needs repentant
evangelicals who have an honest grasp of our own shortcomings
and fully desire God’s mind to inform our perspectives. To be
“pure in heart” requires a continual renewing of the mind. This
“new mind” (meta-noia) is a repentant mind. It allows everything
that doesn’t conform to the image of Christ to be burned away.
The pure heart that remains is the mind of Christ – we have His
perspective on all things.
But Jesus’ perspective seems difficult to understand when forced
to peer through the hardwood of a cultural log. Today,
evangelicals embracing Jesus’ requirement of introspective
sincerity will be labeled ‘lefties’ and ‘liberals’ – they will
be maltreated and publicly diminished. Their advocacy for
sensitivity toward the vulnerable will not be accepted by those
who cannot seem to recall ever receiving mercy. Those who look
at this moment exclusively through a socio-cultural log can only
see a culture war. For these culture-warriors, it is a battle to
be won, not an opportunity to learn, understand, repent, and
heal. And just as Jesus promised, they will not see God.
7. Unifying Respect. The world needs “peacemaking” evangelicals
who have spiritual instincts to unite communities instead of
further exacerbating existing divisions. To be peacemakers, we
start with personal humility and mutual respect toward others
because we have already come to grips with the fact that we,
ourselves, are destitute in spirit. This unifying impulse marks
us as distinctive from the cultural tribalists who trade in
dispute, discord, and division.
What greater example of unifying respect can we envisage than
the Author of Creation sacrificing himself on our behalf so that
we might have peace with God. In fact, Jesus said that those
with the instincts for peacemaking will be recognized as “sons
of God.” So, when evangelicals are recognized by the world as
instigators of division (again, not for our boldness in
declaring the gospel of grace, but for our insistence on
maintaining cultural preferences) whose spiritual children are
we perceived to be?
8. Prophetic Resolve. The world needs prophetic evangelicals who
are willing to pay the high price for standing for Kingdom of
God instead of yielding all allegiances to religious, cultural,
or political kingdoms in order to retain cultural dominance.
Jesus incentivized prophetic resolve by promising that those who
are “persecuted for righteousness” are themselves partakers in
the kingdom of heaven.
So, Jesus calls his people toward prophetic resolve. And yes,
there will always be a price to pay when choosing the Kingdom of
God over the sacred fiefdoms of men. Many that I know are paying
that price now. Many more will lay down their livelihoods,
credentials, and reputations when they raise their prophetic
voices and speak for their ultimate patriotism. Earthly
persecution always follows Kingdom allegiance, we should not be
surprised by that. Perhaps our surprise should come when we find
no friction, no quarrel, and no persecution from a religiousy
culture that isn’t marked by Jesus’ counter-cultural values.
So, what does the world need from evangelicals right now? It is
an either/or prospect. They need to either see us as
representing Jesus’ Kingdom, or not see us representing at all.
Jeff Christopherson is a church planter, pastor, author and
Missiologist at the Send Institute - an interdenominational
church planting and evangelism think tank.
[1] See Matthew 5:3-12
[2] In Matthew 18, Peter wanted to know the limits of his
forgiveness responsibility. In Jesus’ answer recorded in vs.
22-35, he turns the equation upside-down. In Jesus’ Kingdom,
mercy is not optional behavior, but is in fact the patriotic
fruit that validates our citizenship.
[3] Romans 12:1-2
[4] Matthew 7:1-5
[5] 2 Timothy 3:12
[/quote]
Interesting view, not shared with this poster.
Blade
[/quote]
nor this one
[/quote]This is the new wave of thinking Bill & Blade - stay
informed
*****************************************************
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