Recently, I heard of a church that had cut off support to an orphanage in another country. Why? Because they believed that helping children under 5 years old was inconsistent with the Great Commission. Now I freely accept that any church has the right to support or stop support for any outside ministry. Since there …
Month: March 2011
Redemptive Analogy– Value and Limitations
--Cover via Amazon Don Richardson has done a lot of work with Redemptive analogies in Peace Child and Eternity in Their Hearts (among other places). Redemptive analogies are important in faith, but are also problematic. Consider some of the redemptive analogies in the Bible. This is not a complete list. 1. The Vine. Those who …
The Cross or the Sword? Part 1
Cover via Amazon Christianity was a peaceful faith for the most part for many centuries. As the church became institutionalized and nationalized, there was a tendency to link the church to the military and to coercion. With Charlemagne, the gloves came off. With his grandfather (Charles Martel) having to fight off Muslim invaders and his …
The Backdoor of Faith and Maturing New Christians
There is a big disagreement about whether someone can “lose” their salvation. Jesus seemed to set up a stark separation between those that were in God’s hand and those that weren’t. John certainly expressed doubt that the elect could ultimately be deceived. On the other hand, the writer of Hebrews seemed to suggest that perhaps …
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“150 Percent Person” Quote for Missionaries
"If we desire to be obedient to Jesus' command to carry the good news of his resurrection to the world, we must be willing to become 150 percent persons. We must accept the value priorities of others. We must learn the different definitions and rules of the context in which they live. We must adopt …
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Missionary Methods: St. Barnabas’s or Ours?
Roland Allen's classic book, "Missionary Methods: St. Paul's or Ours?" is an important book that examines how we do missions. It certainly has good points. If I wanted to be honest about it... the obvious answer to the question of Roland Allen is "Ours". That is because we always need to tailor our methods to …
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Missions and the Resurrection of Christ. Part II
Is the resurrection of Christ important to missions or tangential? Beyond what was covered in part I, I would suggest it is important because it was central to the early church. And that centrality also adds credence to the historicity of the resurrection. How do we know the early church focused on the resurrection? A. …
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Missions and the Resurrection of Christ. Part I
Is the resurrection of Christ important in Christian missions? Is it relevant? Is it a worthy point to study, teach, and support? I believe so. I believe it is foundational to our hope and our message. It Verifies God’s power. If God could raise Jesus, He could raise us. If He could not raise Jesus, …
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Proactive Availability for Christian Missions Thoughts
I have written on this topic before, but here are a few more targeted thoughts. How can a family be prepared for Christian Missions, even before being sure that they are going to go? 1. Food. Don't just feed children on spaghetti and hamburgers (speaking to Americans here). The world is full of good food. …
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The Gospel Blimp and Holy Tee-shirt Cannons
"The Gospel Blimp" by Joseph Bayly is a great short story (or perhaps novella). It is a parable in the sense that it attacks commonly held "truth". The story revolves around an evangelical church in Middle America that wants to "reach their community for Christ". This was motivated by the neighbor of one church member …
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