tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008023437081579382024-03-14T01:04:50.912-07:00Faithful WitnessTim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-75939301886979963742020-03-02T13:41:00.000-08:002020-03-02T13:41:15.524-08:00Discipleship and Christianity<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">An excerpt from my newest book Community Based Discipleship:</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Discipleship has normally been thought of as an exclusively
Christian word that is used to define what devout believers are expected to
believe and do. This approach to discipleship has done a lot of good for
millions and millions of people over the long centuries of Church history, but
we should not assume that faithfully following one’s inherited or preferred
version of Christianity is always the functional equivalent of being a disciple
of Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If we are not careful, our discipleship can be inappropriately
molded by a longstanding Christian environment that has reduced discipleship
from a transformative relationship with God in the person of Jesus into a
manageable lifestyle that everyone understands and follows. We must also begin
to wrestle with the jarringly counter-intuitive fact that people around the
corner and around the world understand and use the words Christian or
Christianity to convey a wide variety of ideas, several of which have little to
do with discipleship to Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While Christians are
perfectly free to live according to their preferred or inherited version of Christianity, we should pursue discipleship
to Jesus above all things. Since all of us are called to be disciples and
extend discipleship to the people of the world, the question of how Jesus made
disciples and what a mature disciple is and does requires our best attempt at
an answer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Community-Based Discipleship is available here,</div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=community+based+discipleship&ref=nb_sb_noss">https://www.amazon.com/s?k=community+based+discipleship&ref=nb_sb_noss</a></div>
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Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-5893914895352304442020-02-21T13:00:00.000-08:002020-02-21T13:05:25.776-08:00Introduction to Community Based Discipleship<br />
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This is the first blog entry from my new book
Community-Based Discipleship. I will begin with an excerpt from the
Introduction in which I briefly relate how I assessed using the word
discipleship to describe how I had grown to understand my relationship with
Jesus Christ and his with me.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“As the ideas within this book germinated in my mind
and began to take some sort of shape as themes and chapters, I found that I
needed to think about the utility of the word discipleship to describe the way
in which I had begun to conceive of learning from Jesus. As many Christians
know, discipleship is a very loaded term. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Much of my early experience of discipleship was at the
feet of church leaders who weaponized it into the WMD of their own version of
fundamentalist Christianity. It was an approach to discipleship that tended
toward anti-intellectualism and a philosophy of leadership that created (or attracted)
narcissistic demagogues who espoused a Pharisaical interpretation of holiness
and personal associations. It is not unfair to describe it as toxic. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Others who “ministered” to me used the word
discipleship just a bit more gently as a rubric or sorting tool to discern who
were the best Christians, sort of like deciding who gets picked first for the
kickball team in gym class. Those who were chosen to be discipled were
essentially co-opted to “serve the vision” of the leadership. If their ability
or interest to do so ever waned, they would be exhorted to be faithful. If that
didn’t work, they would be discarded and replaced. Needless to say, I am
sometimes a bit nervous about even using the word <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">discipleship</b>. If you don’t like the term either, I understand. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Thankfully, I also knew a few brave souls who “made
disciples” in a way that empowered the people whom they mentored to reach
toward their full potential as students of Jesus. These discipleship
entrepreneurs were so busy loving God and loving people that they failed to
notice how their understanding and use of the word discipleship was truly
revolutionary. I will refer to them throughout as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“salt and light” disciples</b>. They are true world changers, though
people rarely know their names! Their example is the reason why I have decided
to keep the word and use it in this book.”<o:p></o:p><br />
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Community-Based Discipleship is available at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=community-based+discipleship&ref=nb_sb_noss_2">https://www.amazon.com/s?k=community-based+discipleship&ref=nb_sb_noss_2</a></div>
<br />Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-91662874616889169702015-06-04T13:37:00.000-07:002015-06-04T13:37:19.083-07:00The Last of the MohicansLast of the Mohicans starring Daniel Day Lewis is one of my favorite movies. It is an epic tale of romance, desperate danger and hopeful courage. It also has a good soundtrack. It works for me on just about every level. It is also a fantastic story about cross cultural mission<br />
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There is war on the forntier. Britain and France are fighting for control of North America. Native American tribes are taking sides in the conflict. Britain is demanding that the colonists from Great Britain muster militias to serve alongside the British regular army. Tumult and murder are everywhere. A veritable whirlwind of chaos and violence is howling through everyone's life.<br />
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A Mohican man and his two sons, one of them a white man raised by his Mohican family, rescue 2 daughters of a British colonel and their British escort from certain death. The Mohicans finally promise to take them to the local British fort. On the way, they stop at a colonists friend's homestead and discover that they are all dead, killed by tribes who are on the French side. An amazing series of events happen which are text book examples of how Christian assumptions influence communication.<br />
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The Mohicans grieve for their friends, but decide to forego a "Christian" burial. The Brits are angry, interpreting this as savage indifference at best and pagan barbarism at worst. That night, they hide from the marauding war party in a burial ground. The following dialogue happens between Cora, one of the British ladies and Nathanel, the white Mohican.<br />
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Cora: Why didn't you bury those people?<br />
Nathanel: anyone looking for our trail would see it as a sign we had passed that way<br />
Cora: You knew them well?<br />
Nathanel just looks at her. He is in pain.<br />
Cora: You were acting for our benefit. I apologize. I misunderstood you<br />
Nathanel: Well, that's to be expected. My father warned me about people like you. Do not try to understand them. Do not try to make them understand you. They are a breed apart and make no sense.<br />
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The raiding war party approaches and then leaves because they are in the burial ground.<br />
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How often have Christians; extracted, apart, superior, misunderstood what people were doing and saying around them? How many missionaries have approached ministry like this for their entire lives? How many people think we are stupid and unaware?<br />
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To her credit, Cora watches and quickly realizes that Nathanel, his father and brother and the colonists are pretty great people. She shuts up, listens, learns and chooses sides. She chooses the local people and rejects the movements of power and privilege and, yes, of empire.<br />
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<br />Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-11665908951285701902014-05-17T06:19:00.001-07:002014-05-17T06:19:32.308-07:00Disconnect<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have just
read John’s prophecies to the 7 churches which were in various cities in Turkey
during the first century. These were city wide churches and probably included
more than 1 congregation. The prophecy to each church was clearly connected to
the city where the church was located which means that these churches were
incarnated into the larger world around them rather than being extracted from
the culture. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">These prophecies
were to be given to the angels of these churches. Angels in this case probably
means messenger sent by the churches to see John. So, a delegation arrives on
Patmos where John is exiled, and in response to what they say, John hears from
God what he is to give to the messengers who then relay that to the churches
they represent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The first
thing Jesus reveals to John is a powerful visual image of his reign as Lord and
King of these churches. John is summoned into the presence of the King and
hears his decrees about each church. It is clear why Jesus reminded John and
ultimately the churches of his Lordship over them. The prophecies are pretty
intense: “ Your church is exactly where
Satan’s throne is” “ I know everything you do” “ You allow wicked people to have influence in
the church” “ You are going to experience a time of suffering” “ I have wonderful
things in store for you” “ Change your ways or I will remove you.” The King
speaks truth to people in his churches. The resoundingly clear message is that there
can be a disconnect between what Jesus values and what churches value. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-89590886998736326402014-04-28T06:17:00.000-07:002014-04-28T06:18:20.066-07:00Righteous <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One night,
several years ago, when we lived in Belleville, I woke up at 3 am. I was wide
awake, so I got out of bed so I wouldn’t disturb Melanie. I went downstairs and
read Leviticus. By the way, Leviticus is not the protagonist in To Kill a
Mockingbird. It is the third book of the Pentateuch in the Bible; 3 am, reading
Leviticus. Draw your own conclusions from that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It quickly
became clear that God had an agenda. As I read the descriptions of law and sacrifice
and atonement, the Holy Spirit revealed the fulfillment of all of this by
Jesus. “Read this”, God said, “as if it has been fulfilled.” But the Holy Spirit did not stop there. Jesus
did this through the power of the Holy Spirit, and that same Spirit dwells in
me, empowering me to receive the life of Christ within me. This means that
Leviticus is fulfilled by me because Jesus is in me. This means I am righteous.
But the Holy Spirit didn’t stop there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Spirit
reveals this about Jesus to people all over the world. It is God’s desire that
the people of the earth not only know this but experience living as righteous people.
This is possible because Jesus has fulfilled all of God’s righteousness which I
read about in Leviticus and extends that to people in whom he dwells. But the
Holy Spirit didn’t stop there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Spirit
localizes these people. In other words, there is not one here and one there.
God does this for people according to their local identity. We call these
localized gatherings of righteousness churches. But the Holy Spirit doesn’t
stop there. He also organizes these localized gatherings of righteousness so
that they have a certain character. But the Holy Spirit doesn’t stop there. He
also functionalizes these organized local gatherings so that they can do
certain things. But the Holy Spirit doesn’t stop there. He also de-centralizes
these local gatherings of righteousness so that this cycle is reproduced in
other local places and peoples.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This was
given to me one night while I read Leviticus. It is an example of revelation; God
revealing truth. You can see that it is very raw and undeveloped, even clumsy,
but this is what I was given and how. I do not think I should expand on it
because it is perhaps an example of how God gives us broad descriptions of how
he works that are also broadly applicable, even globally applicable. It is just
enough to be reproducible to everyone, everywhere, sort of like DNA.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This
philosophy is very precious to me because I believe that God gave this me so
that I would understand his ways and experience it in my life. I have seen this
over and over in many different contexts. It is wonderful as it happens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-83221557056488018052014-02-17T02:49:00.000-08:002014-02-17T06:50:14.110-08:00MIssional or Missions<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">This post is from my friend, Frank Daugherity. I liked it so much I posted it here. It is serious ( you know me, Mr. Happy Go Lucky! ) and important. I hope it speaks to you. If you want to explore this further, see more of Franks writing about mission and missions at http://daugherity.com/frankly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Has it come to a contest between
"missions" and “missionality” in our churches today?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">What has happened to "missions"
(traditional cross-cultural evangelistic and church-planting ministry) since
the "missional" emphasis has really began to gain traction? Is it
dying out?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">I was a cross-cultural missionary for 21
years (8 in Japan, 13 in greater NYC among Japanese expats), and
contemporaneously a missions pastor in a large church in northern NJ for 8
years, so I know the older traditional picture pretty well. My oversight
responsibilities included liaison with 66 missionary families.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">When I was asked to give my perspective on
what's going on now, I realized that I needed to update my understanding with a
look at the available statistical picture. It "feels" like things are
worse than they may be. According to what I can find out, the number of
cross-cultural missionaries has not appreciably dropped in the past decade.
However, many of them are in support roles rather than as front-line
evangelists and church-planters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">From anecdotal evidence though, it feels like
traditional missions has lost its place in evangelicalism, that traditional
missionaries are being abandoned, that many of the new crew of missional
churches just don't seem to care about the global picture… How will the
unevangelized hear the gospel when the vast majority of those who have not
heard the gospel live in cultures where there still is no effective local
witness? (This is upwards of 3 billion people).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">How indeed will the Great Commission be
completed? This is a major worry to those of us who have dedicated our lives to
this cause, believing it to be central to God's purposes for all believers
everywhere.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">For both traditional churches and missional
churches, two factors seem to be keeping us from really fulfilling the Great
Commission: our church people are <b>ignorant</b>
of what has been happening worldwide, and to put it bluntly, many <b>just don't care</b>. This includes many
pastors who are consumed with keeping the local body alive and have no time or
interest for "missions." For missional churches, the concern for the
lost seems to stop at the local or regional area, and doesn't extend to a global
vision anymore. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Great strides have been made since the
mid-seventies, when a large number of traditional missionaries were needed to
begin to supplement and replace the missions force which had swelled post-WWII.
This was the true heyday of traditional missions, even more than the fifties,
because two things began to make themselves evident: Christianity became a
global movement, and the center of the demographic expansion began its shift
away from Europe and North America to Africa, Latin America and Asia. Think of
the vast numbers added to the Kingdom over that past 40 years in S. Korea,
China, sub-Sahara Africa, Brazil, Singapore, and most strikingly in
Muslim-majority countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">What? You didn't know about this global
picture? A lot of dedicated Christians don't… We evangelicals are, by and
large, ever more myopic and are not presented with the global picture. The
global lost take the back seat to our local and individual concerns. How many
sermons have you heard over the past year that touched on this issue? How much
of your church's giving (or your personal giving) goes to support those who are
working cross-culturally to bring the gospel to those who have not heard? Does
this question sound really out-of-date to you?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">What is contributing to this loss of global
Christian perspective?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">First, traditional missions has become
(paradoxically) more effective, more commercialized, more specialized and more
popularized than at any time in the past 100 years. It has for many people
become a business, a professionalized commodity to be promoted and marketed, in
much the same way that Christian books and music have become commoditized. In
the long run, this may be a terrible detriment to long-term commitment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Secondly, traditional missions is expensive
and requires a long, sustained commitment on the part of both "goers"
(missionaries) and senders. Two decades is the minimum to reach real
effectiveness in most cases. Which of our bodies of believers is stable enough
to sustain a 20- or 30-year commitment to a people group and to those who are
sent?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">The average cost to support a missionary
family from North America is $10,338 per month (low of $4,000 a month up to
$16,000), according to the EFCA. This is an average for North American
missionaries. Globally, there are 417,000 people involved in evangelical "missions,"
with 285,250 of them being full-time career missionaries. North American
missionaries are more expensive than others across the globe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Globally, $32 billion dollars is given to
support "missions," truly a staggering figure… However, it is
actually much less than what is raised and spent locally on a whole host of
other priorities. It is estimated that something over 100,000 more traditional
missionaries are needed to complete the task of evangelization across the
world, at a cost of something like $640 billion over the next twenty years
(figuring in the cost of replacements to those who will retire). Truly
staggering numbers… but the annual income of evangelical believers is at least
$6 trillion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">So we could actually do this, if we change
our priorities. But I believe that is unlikely. I pessimistically believe that
most evangelicals are too focused on themselves and local or regional concerns,
and will not make the sacrifices or serious, long-term commitment to reach the
global unreached.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">However, God can move, and is indeed moving
continually in ways that do not fit our Western traditional missionary
patterns. That's another story, and a wonderful one…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">In the meantime, there are things we can do
in increasing our effectiveness. We need to explore, update and further develop
other models for "mission work":<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: .25in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Self-funded teams</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"> like the Moravians did back in the 1700s.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1400802343708157938" name="_GoBack"></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: .25in 1.0in 1.5in 2.0in 2.5in 3.0in 3.5in 4.0in 4.5in 5.0in 5.5in 6.0in; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Expand on <b>"tent-making"</b> and <b>Kingdom Business</b> models - seriously
developing Bible college and seminary-level partnerships in making Business As
Mission a sophisticated powerhouse (it's headed that way now).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">'Bloom in Place'</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"> models where missionary candidates take a
full decade of learning the language and culture of their target group while
still living and working in their native country, before they relocate overseas
for another decade or two of mature ministry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">'Shadow Supporters’</span></b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"> - dedicated teams of "lay
people" who are unpaid (and paying) partners - knowledgeable, trained
supporters of individual missionary families and teamed-up singles living in
another culture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Ever-more-effective <b>support of local leaders</b>, in
partnership with local churches, in ways that avoid manipulation and dependency
- this is tricky but essential for global faith.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">There is so much we can do. Will we? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">We
need a renewed commitment, and a fresh perspective on what can be done.</span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-79915646951930318362013-12-21T09:48:00.000-08:002013-12-21T09:48:25.054-08:00Missional 101 from Tim Keller<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">This is part of a piece written by Tim Keller, a pastor in New York City whom I learn from. I have cut out part of his larger article, but all of it is really good. I'll send it to you if you want to read it. </span><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><strong>The Need for a 'Missional' Church by </strong><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><strong>TIM KELLER</strong></span></span><br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;"></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;">June 2001.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">In the West for nearly 1,000 years, the relationship of (Anglo-European)
Christian churches to the broader culture was a relationship known as
"Christendom." The institutions of society "Christianized"
people, and stigmatized non-Christian belief and behavior. Though people were
"Christianized" by the culture, they were not regenerated or
converted with the Gospel. The church's job was then to challenge persons into
a vital, living relation with Christ.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The decline of Christendom has accelerated greatly since the end of
WWII. The British missionary Lesslie Newbigin went to India around 1950. There
he was involved with a church living 'in mission' in a very non-Christian
culture. When he returned to England some 30 years later, he discovered that
now the Western church too existed in a non-Christian society, but it had not adapted
to its new situation. Though public institutions and popular culture of Europe
and North America no longer 'Christianized' people, the church still ran its
ministries assuming that a stream of 'Christianized', traditional/moral people
would simply show up in services. Some churches certainly did "evangelism'
as one ministry among many. But the church in the West had not become
completely <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">missional</i>: adapting and
reformulating absolutely everything it did in worship, discipleship, community and
service--so as to be engaged with the non-Christian society around it. It had
not developed a 'missiology of western culture' the way it had done so for
other non-believing cultures.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">One of the reasons much of the American evangelical church has not
experienced the same precipitous decline as the Protestant churches of Europe
and Canada is because in the U.S. there is still a 'heartland' with the
remnants of the old 'Christendom' society. There the informal public culture
(though not the formal public institutions) still stigmatizes non-Christian
beliefs and behavior. <i>"There is a fundamental</i> <i>schism in American
cultural, political, and economic life. There's the quicker-growing,
economically</i> <i>vibrant...morally relativist, urban-oriented, culturally
adventuresome, sexually polymorphous, and</i> <i>ethnically diverse
nation...and there's the small town, nuclear-family, religiously-oriented,
white-centric</i> <i>other America, [with]...its diminishing cultural and
economic force....[T]wo nations..." </i>Michael Wolff, <i>New York</i>,
Feb 26 2001, p. 19. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">In conservative regions, it is still possible to see people
profess faith and the church grow without becoming 'missional.' Most
traditional evangelical churches still can only win </span><span style="font-size: small;">people to Christ who are temperamentally traditional and conservative. But,
as Wolff notes, this is a 'shrinking market.' And eventually evangelical
churches ensconced in the declining, remaining enclaves of
"Christendom" will have to learn how to become 'missional'. If it
does not do that it will decline or die. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-67658402926884117642013-05-16T12:33:00.000-07:002013-05-16T12:34:25.285-07:00Mission Top Ten<br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I never
claimed to be normal; you just wrongly assumed that I was. It’s true. I obsess
over things sometimes, usually about things involving world mission. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Last year,
for example, I put my entire life, marriage and the welfare of my children on
hold and redrew a world map according to macro language and culture rather than
the current and much to be commended micro approach to people groups. I created
new nations like Afrabia, and Dravidia. Iran and Afghanistan became Persia. and
Latin America became Hispana. It was a blast. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My current
obsession has been reading through Operation World and creating my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mission</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Top 10</i>. These are nations which need<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>apostolic missionary work the most and are
the most open to receive it, sort of balancing need and opportunity. My list is
subjective of course; yours may look different.Some countries with huge needs
and real opportunity did not make the list. So, here is my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mission Top 10</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Japan</span></i></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> is the largest unreached nation on
earth. It is significantly less than 1% evangelical. It’s culture is so ill,
that it will depopulate from 125 million to 75 million by 2050. It is wide open
to the gospel. Language learning and ability to contextualize are key issues
for Japan.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Bangladesh</span></i></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> has a population of 170 million that
is breathtakingly unreached, poor and Muslim. Bengalis are the largest
unreached people group on earth at 240 million, and Bangladesh is the center of
the Bengali world. It is still somewhat open to missionaries, especially those
who have skills that can help the poor and build gospel sharing relationships
with Muslims.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Russia</span></i></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> actually worries me. The future of
this country is actually uncertain because they are depopulating so fast and
have so many social problems that implosion and dissolution is possible out
there in the foreseeable future. The country is 1% evangelical and still
somewhat open to missionaries, but not indefinitely. Pastoral missionaries who
simply love people and understand how to build community at every level are
needed. The shakers and movers will do more harm than good.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Thailand</span></i></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> is a nation of 70 million and is
quite open to receive the gospel. However, in a recent national survey, 85% of the
Buddhist Thai population said that Christianity was unintelligible. Superb language
learning and contextualizing the church for Thai Buddhist culture are very
important for missionaries.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Spain</span></i></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> is almost 50 million people, where
only 1% of the population are evangelical and the vast majority of them are
immigrants to Spain. The Spanish people are incredibly unreached. Missionaries
to Spain must, again, learn the language and integrate into life there and
contextualize their ministry.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The Wild West</span></i></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> is a region in westen Africa, consisting
of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mali,
Guinea, Gambia, Senegal, Chad, Guinea Bissau and Niger.</i></b> The reason I created
this region is because I just couldn’t separate this wonderful opportunity. These
nations are much more open to receive gospel preaching missionaries than most
other Muslim majority countries and have a population of 78 million, the
majority being Muslim. No brainer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The Czesh Republic</span></i></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> has 10 million people of whom 71%
claim to have no religion. It is .7% evangelical. Prague is the epicenter of
post Christian Europe. Missionaries who know how to learn from the past, live
in the present and look to the future with wisdom, joy and hope are needed for
a lifetime of resowing the gospel.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Ethiopia</span></i></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> is the key to unlock outreach to the
millions of unreached Muslims at the Horn of Africa. The Church is small but
large enough and vital enough to be sent. The Ethiopian Church is embracing
sentness, so lets help them. Missionaries who can respectfully mentor and train
future leaders are needed. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Austria</span></i></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"> is exceedingly post Christian. The
population of 8 million is .5% evangelical. The provinces outside Vienna desperately
need German language church planting. Germany must recall its 500 missionaries
sent for some strange reason to Brazil, Kenya and Tanzania and send half of
them into Austria to plant German language churches. (The other half must do
the same in Germany.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The United States</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;"> receives millions of immigrants from
all over the 10/40 window, Muslim, Hindu, and Asian. They usually stay
connected to their home. Tens of thousands of potential church planters and
pastors to the most least reached people on earth live in the US. I can hear
the boos now, but the US absolutely makes the top 10. No brainer. Missionaries
who can gospel-engage these people and help the millions of Christians who live
here to engage them are needed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-77916290677228399232013-03-27T10:31:00.000-07:002013-03-27T10:31:41.946-07:00No Country for Old MenThis is Easter week, and multitudes of people will fill churches all over America in order to worship the dead and resurrected Christ. It appears that the Christian Church in America is alive and well. It has millions of members, and is well funded and well led. For example, there are hundreds of mega churches that have congregations that number over 2000. There are also tens of thousands of other more typical churches scattered all over the country and well known and faithful colleges and seminaries continue to graduate large numbers of highly qualified and sincere men and women every year to staff all of them. Different kinds of churches are growing all over the country. Charismatic and Pentecostal churches continue to proliferate at a steady pace leading the way in church growth. There has also been an unexpected and significant revival of Reformed theology in many, many churches. The Christian movement is thriving. Things are good.
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<br />
There have always been concerns, of course. Most of the concerns have frequently centered on quality of discipleship and quantity of churches or members within churches. The northeast and northwest have always needed more churches and more church members, while the south has always struggled with the problem of nominal Christianity. Mainline churches have been slowly but steadily in decline for 40 years and Christian young people have been abandoning their Christian faith when they go to college since the 60s. The worship wars of the 80s and 90s have been won or lost, depending on your perspective. Now there is the missional-emergent thing of the 21st century. Seems like things are pretty much as they have always been; a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly.
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Still, people seem worried. Although millions of people in the south self identify as Christians, church attendance in the Bible Belt is not what it was in 1950 or even 1980. Along the same lines are some of the mainline denominations. Several denominations realize that they will eventually no longer be able to continue unless a remarkable change in church membership happens. Alan Hirsch has estimated that a staggering 60% of the American population has chosen to remain fully disengaged from church. That is 185 million people, or the equivalent of the 6th largest nation on earth. Christian college kids still quit on church, but they no longer return en masse once they have their own families as they once did. In fact, George Barna claims that only 4% of young people under 30 regularly attend church.
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What if these numbers are inaccurate, which is entirely possible. What will it mean for church attendance in Denver, Cincinnati or Boston in 2030 if the correct number of people in their 20s who regularly attended church in 2013 was actually 16% rather than 4% and the number of post-Christian Americans was 50% rather than 60%? That would obviously be good news because16% of the twenty somethings of today will be church members and leaders in 2030 rather than 4%. Would it be a game changer for the churches of the future? Probably not. “ It’s the dismal tide” is what the two older and frightened sheriffs agreed over coffee in the movie “ No Country for Old Men.”
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Now hang on a second. There are tens of millions of Americans who attend church in some regular way. Tens of thousands of churches will continue to exist and serve God going forward into the future and that is a very good thing. However, these troubling fears continue to rumble beneath the surface of the vast Christian community in the US. Youth pastors may be obsolete in the future, or perhaps they will be an entirely new kind of apostolic missionary sent into the post-Christian American youth culture of 2030. In fact, that is a realistic expectation today. We need to recover sent-ness.
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The churches have done a superb job of discipling an entire generation of young missionaries who believe they are called to create discipleship movements inside and outside of traditional church structures that fit the place where America is going. That place aint good, it truly is the dismal tide, but younger Christians aren’t really intimidated by that while their parents and pastors are really worried about the future of our country. Now send them; send them into that place where America is going. They will need you to stand firm with them. They don’t really know what they are going to face, but you do because while many things have changed, the challenges of a faithful life in Christ remain; people are still people. If our churches could adopt this sent-ness, it would change everything.
Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-63819809090731097962013-03-20T14:07:00.001-07:002013-03-20T14:07:55.165-07:00Secret SpaceI have always known, although with incomplete interpretation and, therefore, inconsistent application, that I must take all of the time necessary to abide in that unique space that is consecrated to my experience of the presence of the Lord. This is not a daily devotion or an organized time of prayer and Bible reading. That supports and empowers the other, but I am referring to something more or beyond that. This space of abiding is mostly of God’s choosing. It is my part to recognize his invitation and meet him. It is a space not a place or a time. It is the space within and around me when I am surrounded by God. The invitation may come on a rainy Saturday morning in my car, sitting in a park. It may come while I walk down a busy city street or a crowded mall. It may come during a worship service. It may come in times of seclusion brought on by sickness or recovery. This holy space is about abiding in Christ; he is in me and I am in him. He speaks to me and convicts me of sin, strengthening me to repent. He brings things that I have distorted into correct perspective. He comforts and encourages and infuses strength. In this holy space I am perfectly positioned to learn from the past, live in the present and look to the future; I receive the gifts of discernment and interpretation. I grow in wisdom, faith and hope. I can no longer be so presumptuous as to think that I may or may not enter this space whenever I choose. I will cease to Live if I do not allow Jesus to choose when I need to enter. Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-9583187278777321582012-11-22T08:56:00.001-08:002012-11-22T08:56:05.839-08:00Why its called the frontier not the fringeThis post of faithful witness is a summary of a piece that Ralph Winter, a missionary and then mission philosopher of the 20th century, wrote about the two New Testament discipleship structures that undergird and carry out God’s mission. The first structure is a local church. The second is a team that comes into existence to do unique things that churches are not able-willing-designed to do. I agree with Winter’s thesis and feel he has much to say regarding ministry within our increasingly post Christendom western world as well as to more classical mission contexts such as church planting within unreached people groups. I have copied and pasted his summary to try to capture the main points. The entire piece is superb and well worth your time. The Two Structures of God’s Redemptive Mission by Ralph Winter is available on line
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<br />
The Two Structures of God’s Redemptive Mission by Ralph Winter
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<br />
It is the thesis of this article that… there will still be two basic kinds of structures that will make up the ( Christian ) movement. Most of the emphasis will be placed on pointing out the existence of these two structures as they have continuously appeared across the centuries. This will serve to define, illustrate and compare their nature and importance. The writer will also endeavor to explain why he believes our efforts today in any part of the world will be most effective only if both of these two structures are fully and properly involved and supportive of each other.
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Redemptive Structures in New Testament Times
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First of all, let us recognize the structure so fondly called “the New Testament Church” as basically a Christian synagogue. Paul’s missionary work consisted primarily of going to synagogues scattered across the Roman Empire, beginning in Asia Minor, and making clear to the Jewish and Gentile believers in those synagogues that the Messiah had come in Jesus Christ the Son of God; that in Christ a final authority even greater than Moses existed; and that this made more understandable than ever the welcoming of the Gentiles without forcing upon them any literal cultural adaptation to the ritual provisions of the Mosaic Law. An outward novelty of Paul’s work was the development eventually of wholly new synagogues that were not only Christian but Greek.<br />
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The first structure in the New Testament scene is thus what is often called the New Testament Church. It was essentially built along Jewish synagogue lines… embracing the community of the faithful in any given place. The defining characteristic of this structure is that it included old and young, male and female… Note, too, that Paul was willing to build such fellowships out of former Jews as well as non-Jewish Greeks. <br />
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There is a second, quite different structure in the New Testament context. While we know very little about the structure of the evangelistic outreach within which pre-Pauline Jewish proselytizers worked, we do know, as already mentioned, that they operated all over the Roman Empire. It would be surprising if Paul didn’t follow somewhat the same procedures. And we know a great deal more about the way Paul operated. He was, true enough, sent out by the church in Antioch. But once away from Antioch, he seemed very much on his own. The little team he formed was economically self-sufficient when occasion demanded. It was also dependent, from time-to-time, not alone upon the Antioch church, but upon other churches that had risen as a result of evangelistic labors. Paul’s team may certainly be considered a structure. While its design and form is not made concrete for us on the basis of remaining documents, neither, of course, is the structure of a New Testament congregation defined concretely for us in the pages of the New Testament…Thus, on the one hand, the structure we call the New Testament church is a prototype of all subsequent Christian fellowships... On the other hand, Paul’s missionary band can be considered a prototype of all subsequent missionary endeavors organized out of workers who affiliated themselves as a second decision beyond membership in the first structure.Note well the additional commitment. <br />
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In conclusion, it is very important to note that neither of these two structures was, as it were, “let down from heaven” in a special way…These considerations prepare us for what comes next in the history of the expansion of the gospel, because we see other patterns chosen by Christians at a later date whose origins are just as clearly “borrowed patterns” as were those in the New Testament period. In fact, the profound missiological implication of all this is that the New Testament is trying to show us how to borrow effective patterns; it is trying to free all future missionaries from the need to follow the precise forms of the Jewish synagogue and Jewish missionary band, and yet to allow them to use comparable indigenous structures in the countless new situations across History and around the world--structures which will correspond faithfully to the function of patterns Paul employed, if not their form!. As Kraft has said earlier, we seek dynamic equivalence, not formal replication.
Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-37230127414421890652012-10-13T06:03:00.000-07:002012-10-13T06:05:26.132-07:00NoiseWhen I hear people eloquently and passionately expressing their points of view about various things that, until the last few years, had never really captured my imagination before, I wonder where I have been and what have I missed. These include seemingly burning issues like neo-calvinism, open theism, emergent-emerging-missional-attractional churches, the cultural and/ or Biblical basis of complementarianism verses egalitarianism, the Christian approach to homosexuality, social justice; the list seems to go on and on and there are people passionately advocating for churches to wake up to each. I am in favor of the prophetic words of warning that God sometimes gives us. I want to heed them and obey them once they become clear, deconstructing what God wants to change, recalibrating our witness and contextualizing our ministries so that the gospel is clear to people who live in our time. However, I am not in favor of creating a ministry philosophy that is based on blame. I have never met a Christian who truly hated homosexuals. I have never met a Christian who did not know that we must help the poor. I have never met a Christian who believed that sexual slavery of women was not our problem. I have never met a Christian who did not believe that in some way God is in control of all things. I have also never met a Christian who did not have major blind spots in their life; we greatly err sometimes. I think there are probably too many prophets in our day; too many people who are telling us what they think. Some of it is simply noise. Some of it is worse than noise. One of the greatest tests a prophet can have is a sympathetic audience. Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-78722165043346841842012-07-20T09:04:00.003-07:002012-07-20T09:08:58.383-07:00Success IIJesus defines success for us. He does not redefine success, he defines it. When we say that Jesus redefines something, we are defaulting to a man centered world rather than a God centered world. God defines things; we are the ones who redefine them and we usually do so very poorly. Jesus defines success as faithful participation in reproducing his Kingdom inside churches and communities.<br /><br />We live in a winner take all world. According to this value system, the one with the biggest pile wins and everybody else loses. In the Kingdom of God, the one with the most is not automatically the most successful in the eyes of the King. Why? Because Jesus taught us that all of our personal assets, the totality of who we are and what we can do, and the opportunity to enjoy and reproduce those assets are a gift from God, so bragging about who has the most converts or the biggest church or who has sold the most books is not only vain but nonsensical. Even worse, it is the value system of the world, and that is enmity with God. <br /><br />God, however, does give each of us different measures of Kingdom participation. Success in Kingdom participation is exactly the same for everyone: God’s pronouncement of “Well done good and faithful servant,” but the measure of participation varies according to the opportunity to reproduce what we have been given. The amount that each person has is not the point, what we do with what we have been given is the point. It all turns on the wheel of opportunity. Some have five measures of opportunity, and they are given five measures of assets and the corresponding responsibility to reproduce them within a church and/or their community. Some are given two and some one. The spectrum of opportunity and responsibility is wide because it includes everyone; each of us is given the responsibility to reproduce our assets according to the opportunities we have. In other words, we are to invest our lives, such as they are, in the Kingdom of God.<br /><br />We are supposed to reproduce what we have been given so the Kingdom of God grows. The person who had five measures of assets doubled what he was given. The person with two also doubled theirs. This refers to the nature of discipleship. Making disciples is reproducing a way of life within other people that learns from Jesus, and we learn about everything from him. He teaches us directly about the rule and reign of God in this world as we read the accounts of his words and deeds in the Bible. He also teaches us many things indirectly because the Holy Spirit he sent into the world taught his original disciples even further about his teachings and then empowered them to record them in such a way that reading the Bible is like listening to Jesus teaching again. Discipleship is about life; life in the Kingdom in submission to the reign of God in the person of Jesus. Making disciples is reproducing that life. <br /><br />The human race lives in vast population and variety, so reproducing a way of life among the peoples of the earth that learns from Jesus requires everyone to be involved in thousands and thousands of different ways and contexts. Where we do that, how we do that, when we do that and with whom all depend on the measure of opportunity we have to fulfill this Kingdom responsibility to reproduce the assets we have been given by Jesus within the lives of other people; make disciples.<br /><br />The guy who had been given one measure of opportunity and responsibility failed. He did not reproduce the assets he had been given and was, therefore, declared an unfaithful servant. He failed because he was afraid. His fear came from a twisted view of his master’s sovereignty. The servant reasoned that the absolute power and sovereignty of his master actually absolved him of his responsibility to reproduce the assets his master had given him because the will of his master was always accomplished anyway, so why risk any personal failure with just one asset. The servant thought he simply needed to trust in the sovereignty of his master to grow his own Kingdom. This seemed wise to him, but Jesus said he was wicked and lazy. His ultimate failure had nothing to do with an amount of assets but with his misunderstanding of the masters sovereignty which led him to do nothing.Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-82234973590798030842012-07-07T11:36:00.012-07:002012-07-07T12:09:20.862-07:00Success<div><div><div>Success is important to us Americans isn’t it? It captures our minds and beats in our hearts. Success is the context of our culture; it is the essence of being and doing American. If a person is known to be successful, he or she strides through life with that unique American swagger. If the opposite is apparently true, we enviously limp along behind the swaggering crowd in bitterness and sadness. Obviously, we believe in our right to pursue success, and we will nearly kill ourselves to become successful. We may even insist that the ones we love make significant sacrifices for us as we pursue our success. I mean, who wants to sadly limp through the mall? Malls are built with the American swagger in mind. So are mega churches. Jesus does not think like this. Jesus teaches us that faithfulness is the measure of success and participation is the measure of faithfulness.<br /><br /><br />In the part of the Bible written by the disciple of Jesus named Matthew, Jesus teaches us about life from his perspective. He reveals to us that his return to earth as King is the best paradigm to use to interpret and understand current events and future trends as well as our own individual lives. He tells us that his very public, climactic return to finish establishing his Kingdom will be the consummation of what will take place in the world. He stops short, however, in telling us when he will return, advising us to watch for trends and specific events that are designed by God to shape the world to receive his coming. After Jesus explains all of this, he tells us a wonderful story to show us how this relates to us; how it speaks to our need for success.<br /><br /><br />A rich and powerful man was going away for an unspecified time, and he authorized three of his managers to make investment decisions about the assets that they were responsible for. Each manager oversaw specific areas of the rich man’s assets; more or less depending on their ability and track record. When the man returned and met with each manager, he found that two of them had doubled the value of what they had managed. He congratulated them for faithfully participating in managing his assets and growing his enterprise. The third manager had done nothing to grow the assets in his care, and was referred to as an unfaithful manager who did not participate in growing the rich man’s enterprise. Jesus connected this story to the paradigm of his return as King and from it revealed the foundational truth that faithful participation in the growth of his Kingdom while he shapes the world to receive his coming is the best way to live; faithfulness is the measure of success and participation is the measure of faithfulness.<br /><br />It is entirely possible to be a faithful witness. Our sense of assurance that we are becoming a faithful witness grows as we understand the full measure of the Kingdom assets God entrusts to us throughout the course of our lives, and what the stewardship of those assets require of us. Some people are entrusted with what Jesus has already begun doing. They are given gifts and opportunities to strengthen disciples of Christ, serve in local churches that are growing in size and influence, strengthen smaller or weaker churches or nurture believers who need love and care. Others are entrusted with the world that exists outside the ministry of a localized church, such as sharing the gospel with people who do not yet believe, bridging the gaps that exist between believers from non-Christian families and local churches, or living within sight of the invisible people of their community, such as Muslims, Chinese restaurant workers, the homeless or the aged. Faithful participation in both of these capacities is a part of growing the Kingdom. What are you doing?</div></div></div>Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-79075381015655926522012-06-08T11:32:00.000-07:002012-06-08T11:33:24.996-07:00Hard CoreI know it sounds pretty corny, but I think<br />it takes hard core disciples to be faithful and fruitful on the hard core<br />missional frontier. What I'm saying is that in order for a faithful witness to<br />be truly faithful, it must be incarnated within the lives of hard core<br />disciples who intentionally live in contact with the hard core of unbelieving<br />communities, cultures, people groups, cities or even families.<br /><br />What is hard core discipleship? It is a<br />philosophy of life that is based on integration; a way of life that seeks to be<br />fully integrated with the Lordship of Christ. Hard core disciples are people<br />who believe that there is no such thing as part of my life being sacred or<br />religious and another part being secular or cultural. There is simply one way<br />of life that is integrated with the authority of Jesus. It is very important<br />for hard core disciples to know how to focus their lives. Frankly, it is not a<br />good idea for them to be told thast faithfulness is attending church, giving<br />financially and serving in a program in their local church. Why? This is a<br />highly reductionist concept of Christian life that does not require hard core<br />discipleship. A hard core disciple will be frustrated by this and after<br />enduring months or even years of guilt, will have to either dialogue with their<br />church leaders asking for some meaningful way to serve the Kingdom within or<br />through their church, or leave their church and find some way to further<br />integrate their lives around the authority of Christ. Sometimes, they move out<br />to the hard core missional frontier,<br /><br />The hard core missional frontier is where<br />fruitfulness and faithfulness merge. It is the part of a society that is<br />non-Christian, post Christian or even anti-Christian, so fruitful witness has<br />to be faithful over time. I live in northern New Jersey in the US, and there is<br />a large missional hard core here that has hundreds of thousands of those<br />people. The hard core missional frontier in North Jersey is probably at least<br />50% of the total population of about 4 million. It consists of lapsed Catholics<br />and Protestants as well as people from these two Christian categories who are<br />now post-Christian, or at least the second generation that is totally unexposed<br />to Christianity. There are also thousands and thousands of non-Christians from<br />all over the world from every conceivable religious background, and there are<br />many thousands of people who are committed to a way of life that is actually<br />anti Christian; just ask them! A church that has great programs for families<br />and youth, expository preaching and a great band mean nothing in this context.<br />Disciples who are integrated with the authority of Christ in the midst of these<br />people will be fruitful, but it is not easy and quick, so faithfulness is<br />required. Hard core discipleship at this missional hard core will provide the<br />context for you to fully integrate your life into the Kingdom.Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-32791250229416303812012-05-30T14:11:00.001-07:002012-05-30T14:11:00.742-07:00Conversion or Devotion?<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Can you
imagine Jesus telling his disciples to get a divorce or abandon their children
so they can can follow him?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can you
imagine your pastor preaching a sermon like that in an attempt to convince
lukewarm Christians to surrender their lives to Jesus?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course not; that would immediately qualify
Christianity as a cult wouldn’t it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every
Christian understands that Jesus would never affirm that Christian conversion
or discipleship implies abandoning your spouse and children, destroying your family,
to follow him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why, then, do we
Christians sometimes expect non-Christians to risk destroying their family to
convert to Christianity or serve Christ faithfully?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Usually, we
quote this scripture from Matthew 10: <em><span class="woj"><sup>34 </sup>“Do not
suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring
peace, but a sword.</span> <span class="woj"><sup>35 </sup>For I have come to turn
</span></em></span><em><span class="woj"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">a man against his
father,</span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <span class="woj">a daughter against
her mother,</span> <span class="woj">a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law
—<sup>36 </sup>a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’<sup>[</sup></span></span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+10&version=NIV#fen-NIV-23454c" title="See footnote c"><sup><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: blue;">c</span></span></sup></a></span><span class="woj"><sup><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">]</span></sup></span><span class="woj"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <sup>37 </sup>Anyone who loves their father
or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me. <sup>38 </sup>Whoever does not take
up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. <sup>39 </sup>Whoever finds
their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find
it.”</span></span></em><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">We Christians
never use this scripture among ourselves to justify divorce or abandoning one’s
children in order to follow Christ but we often do apply it to non-Christians
who want to follow Jesus openly as His disciple but whose family life and
responsibilities make that a very difficult thing to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why do Christians do this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We do it because we sub consciously believe
that a non-Christian family is not as sacred to God as a Christian family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Is a young
couple whose marriage is arranged by their parents and who are married in a
non-Christian ceremony “less married” than a Christian couple who meet at a
college, date for a year and then get married inside a church?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is an extended family where grandparents,
uncles and aunts are a real part of a persons life somehow less pleasing to God
than a western nuclear family where only parents have any responsibility?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The extended family structures that
predominate many non-Christian cultures are often much closer to the families
that are portrayed in the Bible than the nuclear families of the “Christian” west,
but western Christians are sometimes very quick to tell a young Hindu woman, for
example, that she must put her possible conversion to Christianity ahead of her
extended family relationships and commitments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Christians almost never interpret and apply these scriptures to
non-Christians in a malicious way; we are simply blind to our assumptions, so
we stumble into bad interpretation and application.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is Jesus saying in these powerful
scriptures?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is calling us to whole
hearted devotion that is so supreme and predominant in our lives, that it may actually
cause people in our family to break relationship with us. This level of
devotion may cause people whom I love to leave me, but it should never cause me
to leave them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In this scripture,
Jesus is calling us to himself in a devotion of heart and life that is total
and complete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hindus refer to this devotion
as Bhakti, devotion to God that is from the heart and which commands my entire
being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That level of supreme devotion makes
any other relationship in my life seem like nothing, less than nothing, in
comparison to my devotion to Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Western Christians often see this depth of devotion commanding an
either-or choice for non-Christians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
either love Jesus more than your family which implies a willingness to break
relationship with your family to follow Christ, or you love your family more
than Jesus, which implies that your family has become an idol, making it
impossible for you to follow Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
scripture does not require an either-or conversion interpretation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It simply teaches us what to expect within
our network of family relationships if Jesus is the object of our supreme
devotion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My devotion
to Jesus may bring my family into conflict with me. My closest relatives may
rise up against me, scornfully even violently opposing my devotion to Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some may want to drive me away, even threatening
to throw me out of my own family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do
everything in my power to remain devoted to them and to Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I strive for compromise and seek to
understand, serving and listening and waiting and praying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have learned about this noble faithful love
from my practice of supreme devotion to Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He commands me in the Bible to love my wife, nurture and discipline my
children, honor and care for my parents and help to provide for my uncles and
aunts and cousins and siblings. The family should accept me as I love them in
this way because of my supreme devotion to Jesus, but they may not accept me
and command me to go. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My supreme devotion
to Jesus teaches me to honor their wishes and I leave the family, clinging
strongly to Jesus along with his other disciples and praying for the day when
my family welcomes me back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
scripture does not teach us to break relationship with our family to convert to
Christianity, but it clearly does teach us that answering the call of supreme
devotion will be difficult and may be very costly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-82155464175170508272012-04-04T05:39:00.009-07:002012-04-05T06:43:20.315-07:00Outside In<div><div>" You too were included in Christ." This small phrase was written by an old man to a group of young people who were whole hearted yet recent believers in Jesus. The old man had lived through times of disorienting religious and cultural change. These changes had made it possible for someone like him to connect to this group of new believers. He eventually accepted the changes and was transformed by them, becoming a master of his time whose teaching became the basis of mentoring the new generation. Old men almost never talk like this.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>The sincere faith of these new believers meant that they were no longer outsiders to the Jesus movement because faith in Jesus is what created and sustained it, but they were very different than just about everybody else who was already inside the new Church. The older more established churches within the movement weren't quite sure what to make of these newcomers. The insiders stood back from them, watching, waiting, judging. As a result, it was obvious to the new believers that they were not fully insiders; clearly there was more involved in the Jesus movement than faith. The old man who had written this phrase to them knew very, very well what it was like to be an insider as well as an outsider; to feel the warmth of being included and the cold fear of being excluded. He wanted these people whom he specially loved to be assured that they were included, fully inside. His life experience had made him very sensitive to the politics of acceptance.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>As a young man he had been the consummate insider; superbly educated, very influential, a powerful leader, the future of the ancient movement into which he was born. But he left them, siding with the new Jesus movement whom he had come to believe was the promised one that his elders had been waiting for but did not accept. This was seen as betrayal, and he was cast out, becoming a hated, hunted outsider. His position in the Jesus movement was not much better. For years he had been attacking them idealogically, socially and even personally, killing entire families. Now he had decided to join them. Of course nobody really trusted him, even though the murderous hatred of his former movement was proof that he was sincere. Eventually he was fully accepted as a part of their movement, but he was too controversial to really be included among the insiders, so they wished him well and sent him away, back to his home town. He was now outside both movements, solitary and isolated.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div>The Jesus movement eventually spread into new groups of people, and the leaders didn't quite know what to do. They remembered the gifted outsider and finally brought him inside, and he led the way forward. This man was instrumental in spreading the Jesus movement all over the known world, but that once again led him outside as people joined the Jesus movement who were completely different than the people who had founded it which caused lots of controversy. It was these new people whom the outsider had said were included in Christ. Inside - Outside - Inside - Outside. This summed up the life of the old man.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div>The old outsider seemed to be beyond all of this. It seemed he had discovered something incredibly profound about the true nature of membership in the Jesus movement and he was eager to pass this wisdom on to these new, inside-outside believers. He said not to worry, that we are included in Christ when we personalize the gospel, when we believe. Then, the outsider contnued to reveal the incredible reality of being included in Christ; the precious privilege of being a true insider with God. The Jesus movement is not about clinging to our history and traditions, controlling our social environment, wielding power over people. Christian groups that become exclusive on the basis of legacy or managing the culture of cool are more like clubs that carefully control membership to please the people who are already insiders than churches which follow Jesus into every back alley, suburban cul de sac or small country town with the message " you too are included in Christ."</div></div>Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-73132506437621365892012-03-31T12:28:00.002-07:002012-03-31T13:23:02.131-07:00Beyond the ChurchI have been involved in a church all of my life. Some of the best experiences in my life have been in church. Yep, you guessed it, some of the worst have too. To be honest, most of my experiences in church have been neither great nor awful, they have simply been a part of the fabric of my life, a part of the way of life that is normal to my family, part of my identity. Because faithful people in church had clearly taught me the gospel and had transmitted the mandate to spread the gospel, I came to see the powerful truth that the peoples of the earth needed to be transformed by the gospel. The gospel became my way of life, and sharing it became my passion. In 1985, the centrality of the gospel carried me out to India where I unexpectedly discovered something very unsettling about people and churches and the gospel. I had to allow for the possibility that if the gospel did not spread beyond the churches, it would never spread to the entire world. In the last 26 years of trying to be a faithful witness, I have learned that there are millions and millions of people in the world who will not listen to the gospel if it is not disconnected from a church.<br /><br />The reason for this is easy to understand but much harder to accept. These type of people do not want to be a part of the World Christian Movement, therefore, they do not respond to the gospel if it comes to them in terms of missions or any type of church centered Christian ministry. Huh? What in the world does that mean? What this means is that some of us need to disconnect from the World Christian Movement, at least for a while, connect more strongly to Jesus with a smaller group of his disciples and try to enter this non-Christian world. We carry no preconceived ideas about church with us, but we cling to the Lordship of Christ and we adhere to the clear teachings of scripture so that we can be faithful witnesses on the gospel frontier and reproduce discipleship to Jesus in families and communities; the essence of a church. <br /><br />Ultimately, it means that people, typical everyday people, who have no official Christian title but who are devoted disciples of Jesus Christ and gifted by the Spirit of God are needed to do this. God has uniquely enabled many of these believers to initiate relationships and activities that bring a sustained exposure of the gospel to people who are completely non-Christian in their approach to life and who, therefore, function totally outside of the influence of a church. Many os us know how to do this, so... what are you waiting for?Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-44915556289806983062012-03-15T06:08:00.004-07:002012-03-15T06:48:59.423-07:00Jesus in the Neighborhood"The Word became flesh and lived in our neighborhood." This is John 1:14 in the Bible translation called The Message. The more common translation is " The Word became flesh and lived among us." This is what is called The Incarnation of Christ. God became a human being, a man who was a carpenter, and lived with us and like us. He was God so he was morally perfect, which means he never did anything wrong. In that way he was not like us! If God wanted to be incarnated in the world, he could have been born in the Temple, raised by the Pharisees and when he was old enough, made ministry forays into the community and then returned to his Temple. But he didn't do that. He lived in the neighborhood. Why? This next bit is really shocking.<br /><br />God did not want to reinforce the religious establishment of the day. He wanted to be accessible to normal people. This is why he became like us and lived in our neighborhood, or the neighborhood of his time. I think he would do things the same way today. In fact, he wants us to do the same thing he did; he wants us to make Jesus accessible to normal people. It is not God's wish for us to establish the Christian religion that came from Him, but which has been taken over by man, any more than it was his wish that Jesus establish the religion of his day. Much of that did not or does not represent him well, or at all. He wants us to live the full experience of our life in Christ in our neighborhood so Jesus is accessible to normal people again.<br /><br />Do you know how to do that? Don't feel badly. Very few of us do. It is not hard to grasp, but it does require a shift of thinking. The most important thing to do to begin to shift your thinking is to read the gospel stories in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Read them and then seek to model your Christian experience to match what you read about Jesus in the neighborhood.Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-84059576689600915852012-03-08T17:24:00.004-08:002012-03-15T06:50:09.452-07:00Not IntimidatedI am always sobered when I remember the actual meaning of the Greek word that underlies the word we translate as witness. The word in Greek, the language of the New Testament, is marturion, from which we get the English word "martyr." This puts an entirely different spin on being a faithful witness doesn't it, a sort of faithful unto death feel. I want to be a faithful witness. Of course I do not mean that I want to be a martyr, but I do want this truth about being faithful unto death to speak to me and shape me.<br /><br />I don't want to be intimidated. I have learned that a pushy sort of " turn or burn" witness usually does more harm than good, but sensitivity must never mutate into being intimidated by the mild tyranny against the gospel that exists all around us. Instead of intimidation, I want to be transparent, openly displaying what I learn about life from Jesus. That life is breathtakingly hopeful, inspiring and free. Whether my life speaks to one or many does not matter. A faithful witness knows how to live well and does so in the presence of the world. I have nothing to prove to people. I am not on a self absorbed mission to save the world, but I have surrendered my life to Jesus. He obeyed his Father in the presence of mankind, and he served mankind in the presence of his Father. He was a faithful witness.Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400802343708157938.post-66980397310029067042012-02-25T08:28:00.003-08:002012-03-15T06:49:24.248-07:00EzraThere is a time to throw yourself on God; to fore go the typical, obvious way that things are done and place your fate in the hands of God. I am not saying to stop taking your meds or cross traffic blindfolded; to do something foolish and presumptuous to test God. I am saying to back up your claims about God with deeds. Ezra did this.<br /><br />The people of Israel had lost everything that God had given them because they refused to take care of it. Nebuchadnezzar came in with his army and destroyed their civilization. The survivors were led away into exile. Jeremiah prophesied that their exile would last seventy years which it did. God restored the fortune of these exiles and stirred up the Persian King Cyrus to empower them to return to their land and rebuild the temple of God. He even gave back whatever was left of the national treasure that Nebuchadnezzar had stolen. Rebuilding the temple would prove to be the foundation upon which Israel as the center of Jewish civilization would rise from the dead, although it turned out to be a much bigger challenge than anybody thought, taking generations to accomplish and involving numerous leaders and key figures in a long story of vision, opposition and triumph. One of these figures was called Ezra.<br /><br />Ezra was a master at explaining Jewish culture, law, economics and worship. He was going to return to Israel and help the fledgling nation recover it's unique cultural heritage, which had been given to them by God. He gathered a group of hundreds of Jewish exiles in Persia to make the long and dangerous journey, but he decided not to take advantage of Persian military escort. This was a huge decision because they were taking huge amounts of gold and silver and many other valuable assets along. Ezra felt he had to back up his words with deeds. He had spoken to the King in very clear terms about God; " The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him." Ezra had offered pretty clear witness about the<br />greatness of God, so he decided to trust him for protection and lead the people on this journey looking to God alone for protection. He felt that if he requested a military escort, which would have been given, his witness about God would be discredited. They traveled all the way from Persia to Israel and safely delivered the vast fortune that had been dedicated to the temple.<br /><br />A faithful witness is not just words. It really has to be words backed up by deeds or the words may become empty and hollow. If we talk big about Jesus we also have to live big. Believe me, your deeds of faith will speak much more loudly and clearly about the truth than your words alone.Tim Shultzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14950259235733590253noreply@blogger.com0