perspective shifts

Two truths laid out by Nussbaum that would radically change the attitude of my church if grasped by its members are the following:
1) The Holy Spirit is our possessor and animator not our possession.
2) The “church” is bodies of believers gathered all over the world not the power centers of the West.

It would profit the congregation of Eastwood to live by the truth that each Christian as an individual is to view the Holy Spirit as the Being who has control, gives purpose and requires submission. It is also important to understand that we are not alone in working towards God’s mission in this world. We are joining this collaborative effort with God’s ambassadors from nations all over his world. This should provide encouragement to press on, but should also stand as a reminder that not all Christians “do church” like we do. There is much to be learned from churches of other contexts.

Our church has a “leadership training” day for Sunday school leaders. I think it comes around only once a year, but even so it is a great chance to talk about ways to incorporate missional thinking into small group dialogue. I could suggest to the leader of this meeting that someone (maybe myself) mention the importance of these two particular ideas and how to implement them. One example would be stressing the importance of terminology by pointing out the potential damage in saying, “When you get saved, you have the Holy Spirit.” There are many ways of going about this. It is a matter of looking into all programs of the church and making an effort to intentionally stress certain ideas that have been identified as necessary to needed perspective shifts.

impacting with psychology

If I continued on in psychology, I could follow many from my field in using this background for Christ. So many people around the world are oppressed, suffering and dealing with loss. Using what I have learned about human emotion and behavior, I could help reach out to the hurting in the world. This could be done on a personal level within a community or on a much wider scale. If governments are shown how to take consideration to these psychological issues, they can more readily come up with aid strategies that are more in line with meeting these particular social needs.

Reasons my church might have for not adopt a nation:

1. They might not want to only concentrate on one area.

2. At the same time, they might feel overwhelmed at the idea of trying to tangibly impact a nation.

3. It would require people to give of themselves in ways they might not have considered.

4. People would have to plan for extended periods of time to work out the best strategies and discuss successes and failures openly.

a missionary dream

Yes, I have dreamed of being a missionary. When I was younger I loved learning about missionaries at GA’s and AWANA. Traveling different places and meeting people that are completely different intrigued me. At church missionaries were always talked highly of, so that probably contributed to my favorable view of their lives. I played with the idea that I could one day do the types of things I had heard about, and it certainly made since that there was a need in the world. I am sure that my understanding of mission work was very basic and limited. I defined mission work somewhere along the lines of living in a village with people of a different race. In my mind it was always a happy picture. Today my views have changed and I realize that so many more lifestyles are included in the ranks of missionaries and there are quite a few more dilemmas to be faced. This dream is taking a different shape, but it is still in me

only together

Being connected to Christians is essential to mission.
1 Corinthians 12 explains how the church needs every person to fill its purpose. Our goal of bringing Glory to God and reaching a lost world cannot be accomplished by acting as individuals. Only when working together and making use of everyone’s skills, can we be used by God to our potential. The love, support, encouragement and accountability that should be found in this group are the way missional goals are achieved.
I love when Robert says: “Connection helps break us of that individualistic, selfish mentality so that we see others around us who need our encouragement and vice versa.” I feel like I have been told over and over again about the idea of America being a very individualistic culture. I have been shown many examples of how this plays out, but here I see for the first time how this relates to my own Christian walk.
I now see that my attitude has been closer to: “What am I going to do for God?” or “What is God’s big plan to use me in the world?”. Roberts says it isn’t just me and Jesus, but it is in community that we should be working toward this goal.

practice reading

I find that when I am away from school my personal Bible reading is more constant and lasts longer. Last summer I spent long nights in Job. I read and reread the same verses and spent time just sitting, praying and writing out thoughts. I still read through books, but not with the same intensity.

I am reading through Nehemiah with a group of about six people. A pastor in California leads discussions chapter by chapter and we post our reflections. We are spread out from California and Arizona to Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. I love reading through and finding out how what I see relates to what they learned from the same passage.

I know everyone says that when you are reading for a religion class it doesn’t count, but I love what we are reading in Mark in my Gospels class. Both Transforming Mission and Transformation have caused me to take a break from reading for class to look up scripture that they mentioned. I think learning and growing is kind of the whole point of class anyway, so maybe it should “count”.

At the beginning of this semester, I was also going through Acts with a friend. I feel like right now (now being these last two months) I have not given near enough time to scripture reading. I feel my prayer life is better now than it has been. Being in constant prayer is not such a foreign concept anymore. I also feel that the community and accountability I have with my roommates is very strong, but I need to be sure not to neglect the study of God’s word.

from their eyes

“How is the gospel making me different right now in my life?” This seems like one of those questions you hear in a sermon that makes you think, “oh. Yes, that is a good point” and lets you stay sitting in your pew glad it is rhetorical.

One of the points Roberts is making is the importance of taking our theology and living it out. We should be ready to explain the difference the gospel makes in our lives, but first the gospel has to make a difference in our lives.

I have been encouraged by many people inside my church (churches), but would anyone outside of those communities know that I am a Christian? Peter Drucker explains the significance of “others” recognizing your identity in Christ by your lifestyle.

conversion / transformation

At the point of conversion, a person makes a decision to make Jesus the LORD of their life. Roberts also says conversion is to change religions. This choice is followed by a change in lifestyle and an individual growing to become more and more like Christ. Roberts says transformation means to become new. The apostle Paul said “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation,” which seems to me to be describing a conversion. However, I still believe Paul and Roberts are on the same page. Paul is describing a person whose standing with God is changed. A Christian has been saved, is being saved and will be saved. At conversion they were changed, but Roberts urges Christians to continue to change; to transform their lives and align with the will of the Father. I believe Christians should continue to allow the Holy Spirit to work in their lives and mold them into who they were meant to be. When we yield to the will of the Father we take part in the transformation process and become Kingdom citizens.

salty living

When a person says they are “doing missions”, that usually means being involved in an organized event, program or trip intending to purposefully take part in meeting needs and spreading the Gospel. In contrast, “living the kingdom of God” refers to more of a life style. It is purposefully living life in a way that actively engages the world with Christ’s love. Roberts points out the importance of being the salt of the world and giving the world a taste of Christ. Christians should be living in a way that points others to God. Roberts also emphasizes the value of discipleship, which again points to individuals reaching out on a personal level. This challenges me to remember that the focus should not be on numbers, but on lives. Checking a salvation box for a person and then leaving them to figure the rest out on their own is a grave mistake. They need someone to teach them and to walk along side them. Each of us should look at all the relationships around us and make sure that we are making the most of every opportunity. We were created for community.

it's personal

William Carey challenged the idea that the great commission was only for the apostles. He stressed the importance of the Christians’ obligation to missions. He implemented this principle of personal responsibility to the spread of the gospel by moving to Serampore, India with his family. There he joined in mission work with Joshua Marshman and William Ward. Today’s Christians also need to understand the great commission individually. In our context it could take many forms. Not every person has to go live overseas to reach far off people groups, although many are needed for this task. Since this is on a personal level it will look different for every person. A businessman might find that he can use his skills and resources to organize programs that aids in installing water purifiers to impoverished areas around the world. Maybe someone could join God’s mission by meeting the needs of the inner-city homeless right where they live. This is a choice that needs to be made by every Christ follower in every area of their life. “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.” - Carey

emotions

Ravi Zacharias pointed out that we need to have a burden and personal pressure to seek the lost instead of letting their time on Earth be meaningless, just a brief time to roam around before their eternity in hell. This compassion should be in us and should compel us to action. We need to be aware of the harsh reality of the lost all around us and stop falling into the devil’s distractions of what this life offers. At the same time, this lack of hurt or burden should not be an excuse for us not to act. Zacharias tells this great story about Adoniram Judson and an emotional event in his life that had a huge impact on him and changed the course of his life, but somehow through this story I was reminded that at times we make Christianity too emotional. We sometimes need to be less about feeling and more about doing.

anabaptists

The Anabaptists contributed a great deal to today’s missional ideas. They believed in “the priesthood of all believers”. We can go directly to God with our praise and prayers. They also knew that to become a Christian, an individual must “exercise personal faith”. Being born into a Christian family does not make you a Christian in the way that being born into an American family makes you an American. A third idea held by the Anabaptists of high importance concerning the theology of mission is that “the true gospel had to be proclaimed by every true believer in obedience with the Great Commission.” This is not a job for a select few or to be contained only in certain organized functions of the church. It is important for every believer to make their personal decision to follow Jesus, to know their role and their relationship with the Father and to see his or her own calling into the task of reaching all nations for Christ. If each church member does not see themselves in this way, the church as a whole will suffer.

a clear reflection

Monks showed their world, better than others in their time, the heart of God. They demonstrated what God is like rather than forcefully imposing ideas on others. Their example was much closer to the characteristics Jesus portrayed.

Some during this time were using violence and war to “convert” people to Christianity, claiming it was for their own good. The end does not always justify the means. Similarly, churches today commercialize Christianity. It is becoming like anything this culture is trying to sell. Youth groups are all about being fun and having big events, so outsiders see how “fun” Christianity is. Jesus is bigger than that. The relationship He longs for is deeper than that. Something needs to change.

Like these monks we should live lives of service, humility and full obedience of God. We need to live in a way that shows this world what God is like. We are His ambassadors.

urgently

Of the four characteristics that describe Paul’s ministry, the one that I see the least of in churches, as well as in my own life, is urgency. This is obviously a problem because people are dying and going to hell every day, some never hearing the name of Jesus. If we as a church don’t recognize the limited amount of time we have to reach out to them, we are missing opportunities. We can be gracious and confident and even have a well developed plan for reaching the lost, but without feeling the constant need to take action, we easily slip into the comfort of our relaxed lives. We need to each take seriously the call to follow Christ.

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
James 1:22

the nature of the Spirit

The Missio Dei is God’s work in the world to bring about His will. Even the gospel-advancing things that we are a part of, is God’s work through His Spirit in us. It is all of Him and nothing of us. Because Jesus sent His Spirit to us we have the opportunity to be a part in His plan. Nussbaum reminds us that the Spirit is so essential to our involvement that the disciples were told “not to begin their mission until he sends the Spirit on them.”

We can be bold because we have power in the Spirit.
When we go, Jesus will be with us.
and
Since we have the Spirit, we should go. We should be like those “…who, receiving the Spirit, were driven by that Spirit to act in accordance with the nature of that Spirit.”

the King

David Bosch shows us how the Great Commission relates to the Kingdom of God and our part in it. Jesus says that He has been given “all authority in heaven and on earth.” He is the King. We are His subjects. He them sends us out to tell everyone else about Him and His love. He is already King over everything and everybody, but not everyone knows it yet. They are missing out on the greatest thing ever. They are missing out on their reason for being. It is our responsibility to share with them what we have, to teach them what they need…who they need.

seeing the grace of God

When some of Jesus’ followers went to Antioch and began preaching also to Greeks, “[t]he Lord's hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.” (Acts 11:21) When the church at Jerusalem wanted to know more about what was going on they chose Barnabas to find out. This suggests he was both trusted and willing. Verse 24 calls him “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith.”

Barnabas saw the “evidence of the grace of God” in how the church was growing in Christ and how it was blessed by the joint fellowship of Jews and gentiles.

God’s sovereignty is clear through this whole passage and because of the relationship Barnabas has with God, he is able to be a part of the unhindered spread of the Gospel through the early church. This is an encouragement to me because I know I too am part of God’s great design and plan for redemption. Reading about Barnabas and the benefit his choices were to the development of the early church, motivates me to also be in a close relationship with God so that I too will be able to recognize how He is working in the world and how to appropriately be a part of it.

Barnabas was so moved by the happenings of Antioch that he grabbed Paul and headed out to tell others. If the church today followed Barnabas’ example of surrender to Christ’s will, I believe each of our lives would look much different and we would probably be making a much larger impact for the Kingdom.

our Davidic Covenant

My home church is Eastwood Baptist in Haughton, Louisiana. This is a very mission minded church. Members constantly see on banners and hear from our pastor “Live Life on Mission.”

When Christopher Wright talks about the Davidic Covenant, he mentions that God calls for His church to be a “house of prayer to all nations.”

Eastwood has many church plants of different ethnic groups including Hispanic and Vietnamese. One way the vision of Eastwood might be enhanced in view of the Davidic Covenant would be to develop unity between the members of the church plants and the members or Eastwood. If these groups come together and hold community events they might be able to more effectively reach out and point to Christ. I am sure both churches have resources that could help the other, in particular for overseas missions trips, especially to cultures represented in the church plants.

Wright reminds his readers of how Philip affected the life of the Ethiopian eunuch. I believe if we as individuals of the church live as David is described: “after God’s own heart”, and constantly focused on His purposes, then we too could be instruments that God uses to bless “all nations in the world.”

you call forth songs of joy

"You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness,
O God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas,
who formed the mountains by your power,
having armed yourself with strength,
who stilled the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.
Those living far away fear your wonders;
where morning dawns and evening fades
you call forth songs of joy."

-Psalm 65: 5-8 (NIV)


All of “the ends of the earth” can put their hope in God and only in God. Even those “living far away” can see the mountains that God formed and feel the love of the God who “stills … the turmoil of the nations”. They can see the beauty of creation around them, but they need to hear from us that it was God who spoke into existence. We are called to share with them the treasure we have in Christ. Then they too can cry out to Him and be answered “with awesome deeds of righteousness”. They too can bring their “songs of joy” before God their Savior.

a church for His mission

I agree with what Christopher Wright says and I especially love "Mission was not made for the church; the church was made for mission." His statement is a good reminder that God's mission should be the focus, not church life. The church should not simply have a missions department that organizes its one mission project and puts together the yearly missions Sunday service. Everything the church does should consider its role in God's mission of reconciling the world. God has a soveriegn plan for His creation and He wants to use His people in it. The local church has a great opportunity and responsibility to take part. Every decision made in the church should be focused on what will point someone who isn't a Christian to a relationship with Jesus and bring glory to God, instead of on the preferences of church members. Although there is a huge opportunity here, it is important to be aware that God's mission does also exist outside of church functions. He wants to use the church, but He is not dependent on the church. His will is going to come about and we are given the choice to join in the story.