by Woodberry and Shubin-- "Why I Chose Jesus"
Missions Frontiers--March 2001(read more here)
11 October 2008
Fastest Growing Religion
"In a number of respects, Islam actually isgrowing faster than Christianity. Islam's growth rate of 2.15 percent annually does exceed Christianity's rate of 1.45 percent. It is worth pointing out, however, that 96 percent of the growth of Islam is attributable to biological growthchildren born into Muslim families. Islam is flourishing in parts of the world where population growth is high. Christianity, increasingly decentralized, has its traditional base in parts of the world where population growth is quite slow or has come to a standstill. Thus, the overall trends do show Islam growing faster than Christianity."
03 September 2008
Dr. David Platt (Days 1 and 2)
Day 1:
The Presence of God... There is much to be sai don this topic but those that most profoundly struck me were these:
The Presence of God... There is much to be sai don this topic but those that most profoundly struck me were these:
- The Prince of Peace, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, our Great High Priest, Wonderful Counselor, Creator, Sustainer, the Suthor and Sustainer of Life... These are but a glimpse of Jesus Christ and we have reduced Him to a puny saviour who waits eagerly -- yea, even yearns for our acceptance? Jesus Christ does NOT need any of us!
- Everytime Moses would leave the camp and go to the tent of meeting all of the people would stand at the entrances of their tents and watch as he passed by. When he entered the tent and the cloud of smoke would descend upon the tent all the people would bow in worship. Today, we need no person to go for us and plead our case because Jesus has torn the curtain in two and now we are able to enter and meet with God ourselves.
- What struck me so severly was this: We are now the tent. The Holy Spirit of the Living God dwells in us! How amazing! How grieving...! How can we, who have the Spirit allow ourselves to ever willingly or knowingly engage in sin?! How can we so defile that dwelling place? While sin is inevitable in this life, it should so much more motivate us to flee from it at every turn...
Day 2:
The Power of God... most specifically in the church and individuals pertaining to the Discipleship and witness:
- He is worthy of our worship but not only this. He is worthy or THEIR worship! This should be the primary thrust of missions and outreach. The evangelical church is missing the mark. The point is NOT:
To rush the return of Christ (because He can only return when all the nations have been reached). To make good citizens who live peacefully. To meet the social needs of the world.
- THE REASON WE DO MISSIONS IS BECAUSE GOD IS WORTHY OF EVERY MAN'S WORSHIP!
- Are we teaching to create listeners or reproducers? (Are we being taught for our own gain of knowledge and wellbeing OR do we listen so that we can in turn teach what we have heard and learned to others so that they may do the same and so on?)
- The key to reaching the masses is NOT by reaching the masses but rather by investing in the few so that they too can invest in a few and so on. That is Christ's model and that is essentially discipleship.
- Are we discipling or DISINFECTING Christians?
- "Disinfecting isolates a Christian in a spiritual safety deposit box called the church building and teaches him or her to be good."
- "Discipling propels a Christina into the world to risk his or her life for the sake of others."
- "Compassion is not selective!" We don't only minister to Christians here or abroad. We minister where we are as effectively as we can for as long as we have. The question has nothing to do with be called to foreign missions.
23 August 2008
Barak Citizenship Questioned
There have been countless objections to both canadates concerning eligibility and aptitude for the presidential position. Everything from youth and inexperience to standings on social issues have been questioned but now a new and perhaps more serious issue is presented:
Is Barak Obama actually an American born citizen of the United States with undivided allegiance? (see Worldnet Daily and Cleaveland Leader )
Oddly enough, the issue of his citizenship isn't as straightforward as some might be inclined to think. Rather, if he is a citizen it is probably that 1) He was NOT American born as the constitution demands, 2) He is also a citizen of Kenya and Indonesia, and 3) He has apparently lied on his preliminary paperwork for the bar exam. There is also evidence to suggest that he has known all along that he is not a citizen and that he has continualy lied about it and tried to cover his tracks. Oh yeah, and he is a muslim?
But he's such a nice guy! He makes us feel good and he's such a great speaker (even though he's not too keen on answering questions in a specific manner -- oh, wait. that's what it means to be diplomatic). Great. Do we really want a young, lying, infanicide endorsing, Indonesian citizen to rule our nation...? Every reason under the sun seems to be staring us in the face. Vote for Obama? I think not.
Is Barak Obama actually an American born citizen of the United States with undivided allegiance? (see Worldnet Daily and Cleaveland Leader )
Oddly enough, the issue of his citizenship isn't as straightforward as some might be inclined to think. Rather, if he is a citizen it is probably that 1) He was NOT American born as the constitution demands, 2) He is also a citizen of Kenya and Indonesia, and 3) He has apparently lied on his preliminary paperwork for the bar exam. There is also evidence to suggest that he has known all along that he is not a citizen and that he has continualy lied about it and tried to cover his tracks. Oh yeah, and he is a muslim?
But he's such a nice guy! He makes us feel good and he's such a great speaker (even though he's not too keen on answering questions in a specific manner -- oh, wait. that's what it means to be diplomatic). Great. Do we really want a young, lying, infanicide endorsing, Indonesian citizen to rule our nation...? Every reason under the sun seems to be staring us in the face. Vote for Obama? I think not.
02 August 2008
13 July 2008
Distinctly American (A Few Days Late)
When I walked out my front door this evening, camera in hand, I wondered about what adventure would lie ahead for me. I wasn’t halfway down my front walk when it came to me. There before me, as countless times before, hung my neighbor’s American flag. Not at all a strange sight, yet for some reason it caught my attention as I set out down the sidewalk. “Click” – my first shot of the evening, and the thought came to me, That is decidedly American.
As I continued down the street, I began to count all the things that shout “Only in America!” There were stickers on cars, boldly proclaiming opinions and desires. There were political signs displayed with pride on front lawns. Strange garden decorations, bikes left conspicuously lying in the yard, a young couple on seminary lawn practicing their golf swing – every imaginable sign of wealth and leisure, distinctly American.
Three houses down a lady was watering her lawn. She greeted me, introductions were exchanged, and weather discussed. Small talk. Something that is American not in concept but in execution. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that I doubt she remembers my name, let alone thinks of me at all. That is America for you. All politeness and no care, or at least not outside of one’s own personal life. This is entirely the point. Individualism is king.
Welcome to America! Make yourself at home. You can be anything you want to be and do anything you want to do. After all, this is the American dream: to be free and live a life that is moral in your own eyes, whilst procuring every comfort and enjoying life to its fullest. How selfish and spoiled we are – or at least have the propensity to be.
On my walk this evening, I met a young couple. These are the ones who were practicing their golf skills on the lawn. Unlike, the neighbor lady’s small talk, this conversation I am not likely to forget soon. Following brief introductions, it was discovered that we lived on the same block, went to the same school, and they had visited my church. Small talk again but this was different. The conversation passed into an open air discussion of Christian missions abroad and theology. Ah, there it is again, distinctly American, religious freedom -- not just the freedom to be something, but also to speak openly about it.
Finally, I come to my favourite discovery this evening – incredibly American simply because it is not at all American. After leaving the young couple I wandered up a street and down another side street and suddenly it struck me. For an instant I forgot where I was. Through the viewfinder in my camera I saw European styled multiplexes along a steep hill, cars lining the paved yet unpainted road. I looked up and still it was before me: generations of influence from outside of ourselves. I looked up the road behind me and saw Japanese lanterns outside one home while the one next to it proudly displayed Italian mosaic in the garden.
This is far more American than any of the other discoveries. It is the idea of a melting pot: a land that is not of one people yet has become one people, where cultures blend together and form a new one, and people are encouraged to remember their old roots while putting down new ones. America -- the land of the free, the spoiled, the outcast, the African, the Chinese, the Arab, the Muslim, the Christian, the rich, the poor, and everyone else -- she invites anyone who will come to settle in her and bear her name: American. That is most distinctly and decidedly American.
As I continued down the street, I began to count all the things that shout “Only in America!” There were stickers on cars, boldly proclaiming opinions and desires. There were political signs displayed with pride on front lawns. Strange garden decorations, bikes left conspicuously lying in the yard, a young couple on seminary lawn practicing their golf swing – every imaginable sign of wealth and leisure, distinctly American.
Three houses down a lady was watering her lawn. She greeted me, introductions were exchanged, and weather discussed. Small talk. Something that is American not in concept but in execution. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that I doubt she remembers my name, let alone thinks of me at all. That is America for you. All politeness and no care, or at least not outside of one’s own personal life. This is entirely the point. Individualism is king.
Welcome to America! Make yourself at home. You can be anything you want to be and do anything you want to do. After all, this is the American dream: to be free and live a life that is moral in your own eyes, whilst procuring every comfort and enjoying life to its fullest. How selfish and spoiled we are – or at least have the propensity to be.
On my walk this evening, I met a young couple. These are the ones who were practicing their golf skills on the lawn. Unlike, the neighbor lady’s small talk, this conversation I am not likely to forget soon. Following brief introductions, it was discovered that we lived on the same block, went to the same school, and they had visited my church. Small talk again but this was different. The conversation passed into an open air discussion of Christian missions abroad and theology. Ah, there it is again, distinctly American, religious freedom -- not just the freedom to be something, but also to speak openly about it.
Finally, I come to my favourite discovery this evening – incredibly American simply because it is not at all American. After leaving the young couple I wandered up a street and down another side street and suddenly it struck me. For an instant I forgot where I was. Through the viewfinder in my camera I saw European styled multiplexes along a steep hill, cars lining the paved yet unpainted road. I looked up and still it was before me: generations of influence from outside of ourselves. I looked up the road behind me and saw Japanese lanterns outside one home while the one next to it proudly displayed Italian mosaic in the garden.
This is far more American than any of the other discoveries. It is the idea of a melting pot: a land that is not of one people yet has become one people, where cultures blend together and form a new one, and people are encouraged to remember their old roots while putting down new ones. America -- the land of the free, the spoiled, the outcast, the African, the Chinese, the Arab, the Muslim, the Christian, the rich, the poor, and everyone else -- she invites anyone who will come to settle in her and bear her name: American. That is most distinctly and decidedly American.
09 July 2008
Intermission
This brief entry is to assuage any concerns of my disappearance. I have been enjoying a recess from the blogging world but rest assured I will return to write again soon :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
