Mike’s Sea2sea Blog

Stewarding our moment – part two

David Chotka in his wonderful book called “Power Praying” wants to teach on prayer that engages the enemy, and wants to refer to the famous passage on Ephesians about spiritual armor. But he wants to make sure us as readers get the most important things right first.

As in — do you really understand God’s action plan for the church in the world?

That’s the very important first thing of Ephesians, and so pastor Chotka wonderfully sums up this portion of God’s revelation, and – beautifully – also captures the vision that has captivated my life:

“According to Ephesians, anyone who comes to Christ is no longer Jewish or Gentile…All races have ceased to exist in God’s sight, as He has created a new human race–a people who passed through the cross, who were joined together by the call of God and were jointly, as a new people together, filled with the Holy Spirit to create a new home in which God dwells by the Spirit (2:11-22).”

This is a big deal – think of what racial (or other) differences still drive conflict and suffering today. Chotka’s summary gets better:

“The book is entirely focused on Jesus’ Spirit forging out a profound unity of humans, who together can be filled up with all the fullness of God (3:1, 14-21). This new race together — made up of an impossible mixture of former enemies– attests to how everything will be summed up in who Jesus is. Every layer of society is commanded to mutually submit to each other–husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and slaves (5:21-6:9). This unity, so unbelievable that it causes the world to be astounded–and the principalities and powers dumbfounded at God’s hidden wisdom (3:8-12)– is so profound that it leads the world to believe.”

No wonder Paul thought this was so worthy of prayer: as Jesus leads you and I towards one another and others whom we never would have chosen….it’s a nuclear explosion of power, God’s choice plan for revealing his glory to the world. It is THE antidote – the cross for the sinner, it’s consequences on display for the world as the church lives it out.

I’m slowly making my way through a biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In a formative time in this young theologian/pastor’s life, he spent 1931 in New York and traveling around the United States. He was profoundly moved by the spirituality of the “negro” churches he visited, and was marked by the utter absurdity of “Christian” America that could not reconcile the issue of the dignity and humanity of blacks. Only a few years later, Bonhoeffer, back in a Germany being swept up in Nazi-nationalistic pride,  he realized that absurd reasons for alienating others had crept into his own country, and even among the churches. He dedicated the rest of his life, in fact giving his life in martyrdom, to the establishing of a confessing church that would be based on the gospel.

Or for a 21st century example, why not listen to the testimony of Shadia Qubti (Palestinian) and Dan Sered (Jewish Israeli) as they discuss Jewish-Palestinian reconciliation in Christ.

So how shall we then steward our moment in Canada in 2012? Here’s two ideas:

The Gospel is Brilliant:  I think we should realize that the church of Jesus Christ is sitting on a gold mine when it comes to a world in conflict. In Christ, there is an antidote for the deepest angers of history between peoples. In Christ, there is hope for people grasping for power, or clinging to it (both are exhausting and futile visions). In Christ, our guilt, our wounds and our longing for significance find their answers in spades.

So, whatever reason we have become shy about Christ or his church in this new era, it is long overdue that we get over it.

Our Unity Reveals Jesus: Strive for unity. “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace”. Pastor Sunder Krishnan challenged our District of Alliance pastors and leaders with the following paraphrase: “Get seriously involved with haste and passion to guard the unity of the Spirit”. Having different people who may have a natural enmity for one another in the church is an DIVINE OPPORTUNITY not to be squandered! Because of Christ and his acceptance of us (despite our hostility expressed in sin), we extend this same grace to others…and God builds something that is truly healing for the nations.

What absurd reasons for alienating others have you accommodated and rationalized to the point that it’s become normal? The enemy of our souls has a well worn tactic for the church, so obvious through history it’s embarrassing: to sow as many reasons for hatred as possible.

In Christ, this will not stand.

Stewarding Our Moment – Part One

What is the sanctifying opportunity God has placed before you?

“Most men, indeed, play at religion as they play at games, religion itself  being of all games the one most universally played…..the emptiness of it is apparent from the face that afterwards no one is basically any different from what he had been before.” Tozer, “In Word, In Power” from The Divine Conquest

The Christian and Missionary Alliance, while lining up easily in both values and theology with many other evangelical communities, has always had a bit of a bee in it’s bonnet about sanctification.

The situation that causes this to be so foundational is:  a believer, or a community of believers, who may have excellent doctrine and respectable behaviour, are very commonly at risk of substituting a religious subculture for the ongoing experience of personal (leading to corporate) reformation meant to be normal for each of us. A kind moral and ethical practice along with a high regard for heritage and scriptures  still carry forward for awhile, subversively pushing away the gospel adventure of following the life of Jesus and responding to the Holy Spirit’s  application of what that following means for us today. Men and women will still read scripture, conform to many wonderful routines and rituals, but in these circumstances, a joyful, sacrificial zeal for God’s greater purposes begins to wane. Good moral people still represent the name of Christ in those contexts, but they are slowly losing their extra-ordinariness, their power.

And of course, even Alliance people who have a high view of holiness and missions!

Sanctification is the ongoing purifying work of God in our lives following the “not guilty of what we justly deserve” position we receive by grace through faith in Jesus. Not an add – on to salvation, but the fullness of salvation for a believers daily living.

This new life grants us a privilege beyond compare: we become new citizens of His kingdom. We are given a new identity as forgiven and holy, and we now must wake up each day as students and imitators of our new Lord, finding out ‘brand new’ how to live the life we have in front of us, finding out what must change. This is a ‘transfer of power’ from our own definition of what’s good to do, to what He shows us is good to do. Thankfully, the scriptures teach that the Holy Spirit is given to us for this process, convicting us of sin, enabling repentance and change, and even causing a miraculous ‘going against the grain‘ of what we would have done apart from His gifts to us.

It bears noting here: true sanctification is a reforming of the heart and life that frequently causes a believer to be newly aware of attitudes or actions that are wrong in his own life that formerly he did not see as a problem, and perhaps the culture in which he lives will think him a fool for changing.

Your sanctification is not a pious longing in private devotions, but the opportunity to obey – the crisis right in front of you. It is to follow Jesus into the opportunities and hardships of now for His greater purposes, resisting the preference you have for your own agenda. What believers find is that when you follow Jesus in this way (what other way is there?), all heaven breaks loose. Marriage is but one excellent example – a married believer’s opportunity to be sanctified is right in front of him/her every day now, to love his wife as Christ loved the church – or as a wife, to obey her husband as if she were doing it for Jesus himself. To follow this teaching, and many others He’s given relating to marriage is like a gift of personal transformation, difficult at first but deeply rewarding. Another obvious example is forgiving a person who has deeply offended you – a bold teaching of Jesus that is not only a profound test of our own understanding of salvation (that we were forgiven; Matt:18), but incredibly liberating for both yourself and those around you. (By the way, your private times of prayer and Bible study will be far more urgent when you take that plunge: both you and Jesus have a personal stake in your next steps!)

What I’m suggesting is that sanctification is not a mysterious ‘going on in the background’ kind of process, but it’s the believer being a proper steward of his or her life. When we are saying “Yes” to the ongoing work of the Spirit in our lives, it’s  is actually good management. We discover it was part of a much bigger plan. Your sanctification actually is a carefully planned demonstration of His glory, meant for this time in history, to meet the unique tragedies and longings of men and women lost without God. (And yes, ultimately there is plenty of mystery, and much is happening that we do not see at the time –but our role is not passive.)

So – to apply this with some kind of practical example: what about stewarding our moment in Canada in 2011?

A brother and leader in the Alberta C&MA (Harvey Matchullis) has been writing and calling his colleagues to intentional cross-cultural contact with new Canadians in our neighborhoods.  This sort of thing is very close to my heart. It seems to me, having watched and experienced this kind of ministry Harvey is recommending, that this is our opportunity – a sanctifying moment. I know that there are others, but this is a gift to us, only a dilemma in the short term, where by His promised grace and power we have the chance to leave behind old bigotries, stereotypes and other cultural loyalties “alien to the gospel”. Obviously, this looks different to each of us as individuals, but I’m saying it means something for us as a group as well – a co-ordinated embrace of “the other” is a sanctifying opportunity placed before us.

And, as I’ve also witnessed, we become part of stories much, much bigger in the world than we thought:  I’ve seen a few glimpses of this! Wether you are bringing food to a neighbour as a gesture of friendship, or prompted to stop and visit with the Shawarma shop owner, you will discover you are a part of a tremendous redemption story, uprooting ancient hurts, bringing the Lordship of Jesus into situations at just the right time. (He’s still leading His church!). Later today, I will be in Ottawa, enjoying a meal and fellowship with a family whose new Canadian-ness, and their fairly new faith has changed me forever. The ripple effects of those that first embraced them, the church that God used in their lives, continue far into places we never thought His grace was going. (In fact, they are my teachers in many ways).  But for more on what happens when we (by His grace) steward this sanctifying opportunity….well, that’s another blog.

So if Jesus is leading his people away from the ‘game-like’ conditions of being religious, let’s seize the opportunity!

Today my grandpa went to be with the Lord.  He was a co-founder of our Alliance seminary in Canada (now called Ambrose), and taught many of our pastors and missionaries over the years. He was also a very important part of my young life,  throughout my years as a pastor, and was supportive (and somewhat fascinated) with this District role of connecting local churches with God’s global purposes in pragmatic ways. I will miss him so much, and here’s a few reasons why:

“I no longer call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that that I have heard from my Father I have made known unto you.”

John 15:15

“God’s master strategy is the church.”

-Samuel J. Stoesz, “Understanding My Church”

When I was 15 years old, I could have gone either way.

At the time, my grandmother (Wanda) Stoesz passed away, leaving my grandpa suddenly alone early in his retirement years. After all the events of the funeral and family things were gone, my mom sent me to go spend a few afternoons with Grandpa.

How cunning is the Holy Spirit! I walked across that big empty field behind the Southgate Mall thinking I was going to be a nice guy and bring comfort to my grandpa in his grief. How little I understood his grief. How little I suspected that my course direction for life was about to shaped.

To spend time with Sam Stoesz was to talk about important things… about how our lives in the day to day actually fit into God’s eternal purposes. (And probably with him looking you right in the eyes, speaking with intensity and concern.) I have learned from others (many, many others) that as he was with me over those months, so had he been with the students he taught at the Seminary, the colleagues he worked with, and the small groups he would meet with for Bible study from the local church. I’ve lost count of the number of people who tell me about significant conversations they had with him that helped ground them for future decisions.

So into this world I walked…

Stories: I heard about growing up in Mountain Lake, Minnesota – a German speaking Mennonite community (“Low German all week, and High German on Sunday”).  About how his own father, a church organist, attended a revival meeting that was taking place in a large tent,  and eventually felt his need for a Saviour for forgiveness of sin despite all of his religious upbringing.  About how this was a scandal in the family and in the community, and as he continued to attend the newly established church, the “tabernacl-ers” were treated with contempt. Grandpa remembers hearing his mom and dad desperately praying in the hay loft for a way to survive.

Stories of Grandpa’s own journey into ministry; wanting to serve in the war, but honoring his families’ pacifist heritage, waited to volunteer until he was 21…Studying at St. Paul Bible College, then Wheaton. Serving in Alliance pastorates in Lyle, Minnesota, and Aberdeen, South Dakota. Lyle: “I’ll never forget the men coming to church with their best bib overalls on!”. Aberdeen: “She had bleached hair and worked in a bar, I was so afraid the people wouldn’t accept her.” (That’s one my favorites, more here).

Grandpa grieved over grandma’s passing by rehearsing God’s faithfulness (and his wife’s commitment and support) over and over, in every situation: graduate studies at Northern in Chicago, teaching at Nyack, and a move to Canada.

Theology: It didn’t take Grandpa long to see I was getting interested, and that meant I better understand a few things. Whether it was a morning reflection over a passage from the Living Bible, or whether he stops in mid conversation to run upstairs to grab some of his notes, he taught me whenever he thought he could get anything through. I think I was 16 when he showed be a diagram of the cross where on one side there was listed the objective work of Christ, our position in Him by faith, and the subjective work of Christ, ie our experience of Him in our lives.

Church: Despite his learning, his role as a leader of leaders, I don’t remember a disparaging, critical word about the church. Something else – I saw that his church and seminary “colleagues” were also to him his closest friends, those who were engaged in this great project of helping men and women see Christ and their new purpose and worth.

It was to this world that I, through my grandpa’s testimony, was now drawn to serve in some way.

Somehow over the course of that year, I dropped my former ambitions, and began to desire a lifetime of serving God. It wasn’t a conscious decision to imitate my grandfather at all – instead, it was more like he shared a vision with me, and once he did, I was ruined for anything else. All I ever wanted was right there, and it has turned out even better than I hoped.

There’s too much to share in a blog, but here – listen, this is important:

As I go through his published materials, and some of his sermons, see the underlining in the books in his library: I realize how deep was his passion that the church might understand her special calling in God’s plan. He had no time for the idea that people might be “saved” to walk through life in some kind of Christian  ‘culture’….(it occurs to me that both church history and his own family had taught him the dangers of such a thing).

He wanted me, and everyone he could find:  pastor, elder, child in the class, custodian with the broom…to see their great dignity and worth … how by Christ we are ushered into the great “control room” of heaven, where the plans for the world are laid out. And there we find a seat at this table, and discover we are not slaves,

but friends, learning the Master’s business.

A sermon he often preached was based on Ephesians 1, entitled “Living From the Throne”. I should find that and post it. Meanwhile, here’s a an appropriate verse from that chapter:

“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”

I wonder what he is seeing now!

“Over there, we don’t have the luxury of isolation”

(from a missionary colleague re: working in the least-reached areas of the world)

___________________________________

Themes discussed in Young Leaders forum

Last week, I attended a conference for North American mission agencies (both para church and denominational). There was about 500 of these leaders, assigned at different tables for interaction over the 10 or so different 18min presentations (TEDtalk style) over the course of 3 days. The theme was “RESET”, following an idea presented by a pre-conference paper challenging us that we were in a time of deep change, forcing a major re-think of how “we” (U.S. and Canadian believers) fulfill our part in the Great Commission.

I was surrounded by missionaries and missionary heartbeats. Wycliff, YWAM, Free Methodists, Frontiers, etc. In fact, an beautiful aspect of the conference is that it was partly the result of blending of a couple of associations (one for the para-church groups, one for the denominations).

There was a kind of strange mix to the conversation – everyone knows it’s better to work together, but it’s not at all clear what that might mean, or how we decide to do that.

An interesting comment was made by T.J. Addington, who listed 9 major shifts going on in the world. While describing the shift from “Competition to Co-operation” he said “We are used to doing our own thing” – so naturally, those we have trained and led  in other countries have learned to do the same, and now are doing their own thing, maintaining the silos we have established.

So the struggle in working together (lovingly sharing our stuff and our people) beyond polite words – always a challenge for us in North America – has been exported.  A “rationalized disunity”.

But what can we do about that?

We can start taking steps to manage our resources for His Kingdom purposes according to His principles on unity.

If the people we send from our believing communities in North America work together when they arrive in various countries, how much more do we need to find a way NOT to be competitors here locally, for example, in Eastern Ontario? In both places, we could experience the close connection between unity and mission that Jesus spoke about (John 17:21,23).

A pastor recently told me about how people in his church are rising up independently to actively engage in different ministries internationally, one going off in this direction, another in that, or setting up their own missions, wherever their heart takes them and with little training. Exciting, and yet fostering more independent streams. He asked a genuine question: “What do we do?”

From a local church perspective, we need some serious “discerning and deciding” tools to help us figure out what God is calling us to do and with whom.

Meanwhile, I feel it deep in my bones I must refuse to compete.

We don’t have the luxury of working in isolation, either.

Notes from an Alliance church, Fall 2011

When Debbie Macphail returned to her seat after sharing her moving words at Anne Kahle’s memorial, I immediately asked “Can I have that?”, motioning to her notes. I couldn’t wait to share this on the blog.

Some people think that the only way to serve globally is to get on an airplane: consider carefully the life of Anne Kahle. We lost a great member of our Global Ministries team this fall. Who will rise up to replace Anne with the same passion to teach children about God’s great love for the world?

Debbie is Director of Children and Family Ministries at East Gate Alliance in Ottawa. Here is excerpts from what she shared last week:

I could talk for hours about the impact of Mrs. Kahle’s ministry among us, and with our children. After all she has devoted the better part of her life to teaching children through Awanas, Pioneer Clubs, Sunday School, Children’s church, Prime Time, Faith Friends, and Go N Tell.

Mrs. Kahle will always be remembered for living out the vision God gave her  to teach our children about missions. It was evident to all that the idea of the Go N Tell Club was inspired by the Holy Spirit. It was Mrs. Kahle’s desire to teach children about the work of missions around the world, of the need for people everywhere to hear the gospel. If you ever engaged in a conversation [with her] about Go N’ Tell you probably found yourself listening for a long time.

Mrs. Kahle could not contain her enthusiasm, her passion, her excitement at what she was going to teach the children each month. She found the most pleasure, I think, in find obscure, small remote tribes to teach the children about and digging around her hundreds of National Geographic magazines for pictures to share. She took great pleasure in finding the most outrageous facts about a tribe and hooking the children’s attention with it. God truly blessed her with a creative mind. She had this incredible gift of writing lessons that would capture the children’s interest, engage their hearts and open their minds.

Mrs. Kahle believed that children were equal members in the family of  God. She believed the same Holy Spirit that lives in us adult believers lived in each child who had put their trust in Christ. If I heard that once I heard it a hundred times. ….even as she battled cancer she taught them…families would go to visit [her] in the hospital and before they would leave Mrs. Kahle would ask the children to lead in prayer. She would instruct them on how they could pray for her and what scripture taught about praying.

….It may seem now that we have huge shoes to fill..I mean Ann Kahle was a children’s ministry superwoman. But Ann would tell us this, be faithful to the call God has placed on your life, fill the shoes he has called you to fill, not hers or anyone else’s. Anne was faithful to the call God has placed on her life. Countless lives were touched with the gospel of Christ because Ann was faithful to deliver it.

Colleagues in mission Anne Kahle, Gerald H: teaching my boys and friends at East Gate

Sometimes it feels like:

we,

who live at a time of an overabundance of theories  of organizational leadership, workshops and conferences, books and degree programs,

of unparalleled  wealth at our disposal (even tax-credited by our government),

of technological possibilities that we are using in incredible ways, with yet more coming as we speak,

of opportunities to interact with the peoples of the world that have never been greater (both at home and abroad),

have in fact done less than our grandparents and great-grandparents in winning the lost to Christ, (no, not true necessarily, but it feels like this sometimes…doesn’t it?)

they,

who had “little” in all of those categories,

who faced hardships and sacrifices that few would stand for today,

and had many faults (rehearsed and corrected in our training materials and seminary classes)

yet seem to have accomplished so much;

they,

who seemed to have lived at a time of an overabundance of confidence in the reality of God and the power of His gospel.

Can we share?

“I feel that in Latin America we got the best missionaries in the world after World War 2. They didn’t have much money, so couldn’t do anything but 2 things: talk about Jesus Christ and teach us the Bible. And you know, …that has really revolutionized millions of lives….it’s slower than you wish, but the change begins to come.”

Luis Palau, Speaking to students at missions week 2009 Liberty University

GUEST BLOG: Bonnie Burnett

Derek and Bonnie (Douglas) Burnett are C&MA International Workers in Thailand. They working in the area of training Thai leaders through locally led centers of education in remote areas of the country. I have been blessed to have heard moving stories about Bonnie’s family before, and as usual I was struck by this one as well. This comes from their most recent prayer letter; a great way to share some of those “joys” that come with “sowing in tears” (Psalm 126).

Bonnie on the far right, with her mum, and Gi Baa's family

Sawatdii Kha;

I have put off writing you about my trip to Vietnam, because I’m not sure how I can describe it to you in only three or four paragraphs. The Douglas family left Vietnam for home assignment thinking we’d be back in 6 months… we returned 37 years later!  You can imagine what a joy it was to meet dear friends we’ve not seen for almost 40 years and discover the places we loved all over again.

When my grandparents arrived in Vietnam they could count the number of believers on one hand.  Ninety nine years later, more than two million Vietnamese know Christ.  You can imagine what a joy it was to celebrate with 15,000 of them in Danang city, recalling all that our Lord has done in the last 100 years!

So where do I begin?  Maybe I’ll just give you the praise-lights.  We praise the Lord that our old house helper, who had lived with us for almost 20 years, had the strength to come to see us.  Mum and dad had met her years ago when her husband had just left her with three kids to raise.  She came to live with us and we grew up together.  Now, her son is a pastor, her daughter is married to a pastor, and one of her grandkids serves the Lord too.  We could hardly speak together over the lump in our throats!  Thanks, Lord.

We had a lovely time finding Dalat school, mum’s old house, the church, the Bible School in Nha Trang – all places we’d lived and served.  My mum and my older brother & sister are still able to speak Vietnamese well, so they interpreted for us through our visit.  In all of this, we listened to my mum’s stories of what Christ had done in and through our CMA missionaries.  It is an amazing thing to see a picture of God’s blessing from beginning to end – not that He is done in Vietnam, but how often do we get to see both the start and the finish of work He has given us?  That’s Vietnam for each of us who have prayed for our missionaries over the years!

Dalat School

Finally, to celebrate with Vietnamese brothers & sisters… amazing!  When the choir from a north Vietnamese church sang the Alleluia chorus in Vietnamese, I cried.  When all the missionaries who had spent their lives sharing the gospel there walked up to the platform, I cried.  When I watched members of the mountain tribes across Vietnam march forward, I cried.  It was a wet few days for me!    One of the most sobering moments occurred when they asked each family that had lost someone because of Christ to send a representative to the front.  They filled the platform.  This is something you and I can hardly comprehend – to die for our Lord.  Our brothers & sisters do not complain about it, but rather wear it with pride knowing that it is the strength of the church there.

100 Years of God at Work in Vietnamese hearts and livees

What a blessing.  Thank you for praying for us as we went.  My son, Carlin, seemed to drink it all in and grew up a little before our eyes.  I pray that Jesus will continue to use it in his life.  My time with my family was sweet.  We so seldom get together since we serve across the world, but this was… golden.

Thank you, Lord, for letting each of us have a part in your joyous service!  I pray that He will give you a ‘beginning and end’ glimpse of what He is doing through you, too.

love from Thailand,
bonnie for derek, carlin, jesse and jemma

Oh, those Canadians Christians at the beginning of the 21^st century. What a time to live! Imagine giving the Apostle Paul a tour of our country right now:

Scene 1: Walking through the north-west suburbs of Calgary

“Paul, God has blessed us with riches beyond measure. Believers own or rent hundreds of thousands of square footage of private homes; heated in the winter, cooled in the summer. Private kitchens, open spaces in which to gather family and friends. Nearly all of them can read and write, and all of them have access to a pretty amazing health care system. Water, sanitation and electricity are plentiful.  Most have all they need to eat, with plenty to share when friends come. They can pray, worship and study, and be equipped for using their gifts in total freedom. They also have ways to get around whole cities; many of them even had private, personal transportation for use whenever they wanted.”

O God, my home and all these blessings are from you. Lord, I dedicate these treasures afresh to you and for your purposes.

Scene 2: Driving around Winnipeg pointing out churches

“Also, believers have pooled their resources over the past century, and now have built thousands of fairly large, public-use buildings that have classrooms, libraries, rooms designated just for worship services, and kitchens/halls for large groups to eat together. (Actually, people have come to describe the buildings as “the church”! I know, I know…. it’s not what Jesus, or you the apostles meant…it just kind of happened….). The government doesn’t tax them, or interfere with how often they meet! And these structures are spread all over the entire country.”

O God, my church building is yours. Master, show us how we use these best for your mission.

Scene 3: Parables bookstore in Saskatoon (noting conference and Seminary posters)

“Paul, believers in Canada today also have incredible access to every kind resource for growth in Christ that you can imagine. The world’s best preaching and discipleship material is available in multiple ways to them, nearly every single day. They often attend unbelievably wonderful conferences, with hundreds, sometimes thousands of other believers. Their churches are led by men and women who have studied for years in schools that had teachers who could dedicate their whole adult lives to studying and teaching scripture, and invest their lives to passing that knowledge onto the next generation.”

O God, I have no excuse not to grow in Canada: please forgive me for treating lightly things of eternal importance.

Scene 4: In a church office in Ottawa, a Vietnamese pastor SKYPE’s a colleague in Taiwan

“They have several integrated ways to communicate, technologies where you could be in Corinth today and preach a message to a Toronto or Vancouver church (they could both see you and hear you), or to as many churches as you want.  Letters can be sent in less than a second, in as many copies to as many places as you can think of. Think of this technology as being as timely now as perhaps “Pax Romana” and the Empire’s road system was for you! Through these channels, people in closed and persecuted countries meet Jesus, and are gathered together for baptism and growth. “

O God, I’m sorry for using technology for escaping from the world, for trivial matters or profane things which keep me from hearing your voice. My internet time I give back to you. I want the way I use this social tool to bless and encourage others.

Scene 5: Lester B. Pearson airport, Toronto

“Paul, like your Roman citizenship, the Canadian passport gives us some fairly helpful weight and privilege when our people travel. And this will really stretch your brain: people travel all over the entire world by air and Canada is well placed as a hub of an international movement of peoples (the numbers of people moving around the world never before seen in history).

I know your missionary heart is beating hard when you hear this:  God has sent into our country representatives of most of the world’s non-believers. I mean they have moved right into our cities – attend our schools, live in our neighbourhoods, and work alongside us!  They, people for whom we have been praying for nearly a century or more! What an answer to prayer! Now when we get into a taxi, and someone He loves and died for from an unreached people group is our driver. We go to eat; a representative of a nation we are not allowed to enter geographically is now serving us, speaking with us.”

O God, you have placed me in proximity to many different people and cultures. I’m sorry for ignoring people that you love, or making judgements about them.  Help me to share the Good News of Jesus and   build genuine loving relationships.

Scene 6: A multi-cultural worship service in Vancouver

“Oh, yes, I did read about your comment to the philosophers of Athens about where God places people. Do I see a connection? Well, wait, there’s even more to show you:

We have churches and believers from nearly every country on earth meeting to worship inside Canada. In our major cities especially, you can find believers singing and praying in hundreds of languages. Some relationships between these churches cross cultural lines. There is the potential for unparalleled tangible expressions of the unity Jesus prayed in John’s gospel (just before he went to the cross), or the new community created by the cross that you wrote about to the Ephesians (which you first saw at that amazing church in Antioch! Ah, what that must have been like!).  It may be the most powerful witnessing opportunity for God’s glory that we have right now in Canada. (You see, it’s a long story, but non-believing Canadians are in need of a fresh proclamation and demonstration of who Jesus is, and what He is really like.)”

O God, I dedicate to you all my social judgements that I regularly make about others. Please re-train me to love those who are different, so that they’ll apprehend their true dignity in your sight. I want to see how it works in Canada, that all men will know we are disciples of Jesus, by the way we love each other.

Surely (I imagine Paul saying) with all those resources, all those languages spoken by all those colleagues from different cultures, all those buildings, all the education, the technologies…you must be able to win so many disciples, have such incredible friendships with people from different backgrounds. And like Antioch, send from diverse churches many messengers around the world…..

“Uhm, well, er….yes, I guess from a “missionary apostle” perspective, it sure looks like the believing Canadians at the beginning of the 21^st century are entrusted with unparalleled opportunity.

What’s stopping us?

Good question.”

O God, change us so that we can see what’s really going on.

Raise up a heart of  consecration in our churches, where we put everything we have here back on the altar for you to use however you want, whenever you want.

Fill us with your Spirit so that we leave a mark here that will win you honour and praise among the nations.

Help us to celebrate our Canada by offering it in service to your masterful plan to redeem men and women, which you revealed by saving us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of your mercy.

Hope:  Name it when you see it

Two things I saw over the past couple of weeks that gave me hope.

The Hub on Barrington Street in Halifax:  This scrubbed brick, for-rent 2^nd floor group meeting room hosted some movers and shakers on Saturday, April 30^th (But maybe not the normal downtown crowd)

This group prayed, God answered!

About 70 leaders from the region gathered for a one day conference called “Converge”, spearheaded by a group of young-ish leaders who have this crazy notion “to unify the Alliance churches in Nova Scotia to see the larger picture of God’s Kingdom, to motivate the churches toward missional and worshipful living, and to cast a vision for reaching the Maritimes for Christ”.

That’s all.

Who do they think they are?

Turns out, this kind of thing – enjoying God’s word together, giving ample time to eat and talk with one another, being led by local artists using their talents for His glory*, well, it’s a very hospitable environment. I sensed genuine listening, love, and joy on the part of those who participated. More than that, I personally heard God speak, challenging me through a message preached by Scott Carroll on prayer.

The follow up question was asked “What is that thing that’s too big for you, that only God can do?”

Wow. God immediately put a spot light on something in my life I have written off as impossible.

Then there was significant time to visit with people. Leaders from Truro Alliance, from City Heights in Dartmouth, from New Brunswick, were mixing with one another.

My part in the event was to share stories of missions-minded living from history; Zinzendorf bringing the Moravian refugees into a kind of “brotherly agreement” focused on Christ which led to a fresh, long lasting move of God in their community and far beyond; a young pastor named Simpson who called the leaders of post Civil-war Louisville to prayer meetings that led to an incredible times of evangelism and inter-denominational ministry; the re-birth of the church called “Imago Dei” in post-modern Portland after  a series of “repentance meetings” over lack of love for their community; and finally the wonderful picture of God bringing together different tribes and nations into a church in Niger.

I just sensed God was present, calling us onward to trust him, and to trust one another.

Another great encouragement: Got to listen to a young sister a few times over the weekend, a woman who is discerning God’s prompting towards a life of missions (and her local church is %100 behind her). She’s been on a YWAM DTS and service trip, and is now going for some theological training at Ambrose. She’d applied for scholarships and is working hard to save up for school. When I arrived back home I received an email from her not long after – she received one of the biggest scholarships available!

The SECOND big reason for hope was at Muskoka Woods resort where a few hundred teens gathered for the Quizzing finals. (FAQ: Quizzing is an inter-church competitive Bible memorization community – students learn key passages from a book of the New Testament, and then in teams of 4 compete to see who can jump quickest on questions asked by a quizmaster.) My wife and some friends lead the 3 teams from Ritson Road, and this year I’m a coach, too.

For the second year in a row, I was deeply moved during the awards ceremony. They honour the young people who reach the “Top Ten” in scoring, and then they also call up all the students who are graduating from the program. I just can’t help but consider their potential.

“If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” (Jn.7:17)

The other thought that comes to me in those moments is just the incredible responsibility they have to wisely APPLY what they now have as they take their place in the church and in the world. (We share in that, too, the privilege as parents and leaders to equip them.)

It wasn’t my place, but I wanted to jump up and shout: “Don’t waste this tremendous opportunity! Don’t be like the servant who was “afraid” of failure, and who buried the gift he was given!”

Later that day we were taught by young preacher in his 20’s who was once a quizzer. He did a good job. I hope that 300 hundred or so young people gathered there will step out in faith in response to the words they have memorized, and find out from experience just how personal and powerful a remedy God’s word is for them and the world.

*Musical note: In Halifax, Tim Milner’s worship leading and songs completely grabbed me by surprise. It’s like he walked into my “vault” of precious memories from my early years as a believer, and started doing new, wonderful things with hymns I grew up with.

“I see a generation, rising up to take it’s place…” (Hillsong)

What a weekend. I am tired but blessed, and I think I need to look back at what just happened.

From Friday to Sunday lunchtime, I got spend some time with the young adult community from First Alliance church (Toronto) out at Camp Mini-yo-we near Huntsville, ON. What a great group of people, and largely absent was any pretense among them. They seemed ready to really “retreat”, enjoy time together and relax.

Smiling faces

One thing I noticed through our sessions together was the worship…wisely chosen songs, scripture being read. We were in no rush, and the worship leader kept reminding everyone of what we had learned so far, and reflecting on words from the teaching. It really helped me in the constant struggle that goes on my heart before preaching. (I’m reminded of the excellent study written by Dr. Diafwila of L’ACMCi  in Ottawa: “Worship and spiritual warfare”).

I really enjoyed the time together. At one point, my heart ached a bit for their struggle — “what is God asking of me?”  The tension of seeking Jesus can sometimes seem so hard, that it can be rejected for the easier route: just live a passably “Christian” life, try to keep your conscience relatively clear, make sure others know your still a decent believer.

I hope that none of them settle for being “good Christians”.

I hope instead for the joy that comes as they discover their incredible dignity and worth place in God’s incredible plan to redeem men and women. In the Alliance we are seeing many people retiring from International church planting — I think it’s the time for another generation of radical “senders” and “go’ers” to rise up and carry the torch. And with the whole world present here in Toronto: who will give a fresh account of God’s love for all people to all that are now our neighbors?

Carefully chosen people!

First Alliance young adults: Don’t hold back!

From retreat I went straight to the ordination and commissioning service of colleagues E and A at SCAC in Toronto. This brother and sister have already served on our interational team in the Silk Road, but now they will be going to help advance the church in the Chinese diaspora in an Asian Spice region nation, and E just passed his ordination interview. What a joyful day for them as our D.S., our regional directors for both those regions, and many other Alliance leaders came and affirmed them.

E&A 001

But this church!  Paul wrote about the Philippians: “Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.” I won’t boast about them — but I see that they have the joy of finding their purpose in spreading God’s great love for every man and woman, the most powerful and transformative movement in our world.

What a privilege to be with both groups this weekend. Later that night I watched episode one of “Amazing Race”. What an interesting parallel! Today I’ll rest (oh man, do I need it!), but tomorrow rise up to the next challenge and who knows what will come along?