If you were at our Spring Connect Workshop, you’ll remember we traced God’s heart for the Nations and how, while we must Enjoy His Grace, if it stops there it is incomplete. Together with Enjoying His Grace we must always seek to Extend His Glory. As his Image-Bearers, that is what we are made for.
I enjoyed reading how John Piper expressed this same idea. I think you will to.
This article by Chris Watkins is helpful as you progress through Modules 4 and 6. Here, Chris Watkins shares a tool he developed to help breakdown a local culture down into seven key questions that can be loosely mapped onto a creation-fall-redemption-consummation schema, and make it easier to compare a local culture to the Biblical Narrative.
It doesn’t matter what your goal is, what strategy you have, how gifted you are or how impressively resourced you are; if you don’t have both the humility to learn and the humility to invite others to help you do that, you will always struggle in cross-cultural ministry.
If you’re interested in learning about church planting in hard places, 20Schemes is a great resource from a team of people seeking to plant churches in the housing schemes of Scotland. Read how a 20Schemes worker learnt the importance of adopting a posture of humility.
I appreciate resources such as Radical.net and the books which started these kinds of blogs like David Platt’s “Radical”. They give us a kick in the pants and from time to time, we all need that. But what resources and books like these do, even if unintentionally, is discount the ordinary.
Ordinary! Just writing and saying that word in my head, almost feels less than ordinary. It feels sub-ordinary. But it’s not. In fact, it is normal and good. I mean let’s face it, we all wish we were much more “excellent” and “radical” than we really are. But for most of us, wearing that mantle leads to comparitive living and striving. To illustrate a better way, can I talk about a cricketer? (Sorry ladies, please stay with me).
Glen McGrath is one of Australias finest fast bowlers. He has taken more wickets than any other fast bowler in Australian cricket history. Why was he so good? Was he the fastest? No. Was he unplayable? No. Did he have a trick ball that mesmerised the batsman? No. Glen McGrath gift was that he was very good at being ordinary. He would consistently land the ball in the right spot on the pitch that stood the best chance of getting the bastman out if he continued to keep landing the ball in the same spot, time after time after time.
As we seek to equip ourselves for cross-cultural ministry, let’s focus less on being “radical” or “excellent”, but rather let’s seek to do the ordinary things well, time after time with consistency, believeing that God will sustain us to endure and be effective in long-term minsitry and extending His Glory among the Nations.
In closing, here is a recent article from Radical.net, calling for less “radicalness” but rather, “faithfulness”.
Have you ever wanted to use God’s Word to pray for some of the neediest people in the world who have no access to His Word or the knowledge of His Son, Jesus? Here are a few verses that will help you do that. Couple these verses with a tool like the “Unreached of The Day” App, or The Joshua Project. Just fill in the name of the people group you are praying for.
Psalm 86:9 “Lord I pray that all the _____________ people you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; I pray the _____________ people will bring glory to your name.”
Psalm 113:4 “Lord, may you be exalted over all the _____________ people, your glory over the heavens.”
Isaiah 42:8 “You are the Lord and this your name! I pray your glory will not be given to another. I pray the _____________ people will not give your praise to idols.”
Psalm 96:3 “Lord send workers to declare your glory among the _____________ people, your marvelous deeds among all the _____________ people.”
“Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” Matt 6:10
People are on the move all around the world. Many of the 1 million refugees entering Europe intially arrive in Greece. Jesus in Athens is the compelling story of the ways Christians are serving migrants, and how Muslims are encountering the love of God and Christians, believing the gospel, and forming churches. You can watch it on Amazon Prime for free by registering for a free 30 day trial.
On December 11-14th, we’ll gather together at Lakewood for our end-of-year Connect Open Weekend. This year, we’ll have Samuel Green, author of “Where to start with Islam” as our guest speaker. If you haven’t already, please “Save The Date”.
As the Connect Open Weekend get’s closer, from time to time we’ll post articles here to help us engage with how we can be equipped to communicate Truth to our muslim friends.
God’s intention for Israel as a people was always clear. He told Abraham that he’d be the father of a nation through which all other nations would be blessed (Genesis 12:3). Later, He told Moses that through Israel He’d demonstrate His power to the surrounding nations (Exodus 34:10). They were intended to be His witnesses (Isaiah 43:10). To demonstrate the incredible blessing of having access to God’s Word (Deut. 4:6,33).
Although Israel failed, God wanted His people to be a light and a witness, to communicate His blessing to others. It was part of who they were as a people, whether they recognized it or not.... read more
We mentioned in Wednesay’s post about identity and purpose being closely linked together. What was true of God’s people under the Old Covenant is also true for those in the New Covenant. The command and commission these New Covenant believers received was directly from Him and they were to pass it on to others, to go out, and to be His witnesses everywhere.
The pattern He described was of His people moving out with Truth from a local base and then out to the nations. From its beginning on the day of Pentecost, God’s Spirit empowered the early Church to move out geographically, but also across boundaries of language, culture, worldview, and ethnicity.
The Narrative of the early Church and in the centuries that followed was one of spreading out, of taking God’s Truth into new areas, both locally and globally.
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