A Fresh Approach to Muslim Peoples

THE RETHINKING EMERGING AMONG SOME CHRISTIANS

Mission Frontiers is the Bulletin published by the U.S.CENTER for WORLD MISSION and in the July-August issue that focuses on this subject, there is exciting evidence of a fresh wind blowing for those that work for world peace.

First of all for Christ followers everywhere, there is much that we do not know about the Muslim Peoples; much mis-information and misunderstanding. This issue alone gives us all much to seriously think about for some time, especially if what is presented by many different authors has any validity at all. I invite my Muslim friends will read this issue carefully and let me know if it represents honestly the reality among their Muslim cultures.

From the Bulletin:

A Few Interesting Questions:

1. Why did Muhammad reject the concept of the Trinity held by Christians he knew?
2. Why did he come up with the idea that Jesus did not die on the cross?
3. What person in the Qur’an has attributes of Divinity?
4. Why do 30 million Christians in the world today pray to “Allah” and read that same word God in their Bibles?

Some Biblical Themes that appeal to Muslims

1. God’s goodness, love, reliability, and care for his servants.
2. God’s guidance of history towards good ends as he works through events to oppose evil, to train his servants in righteousness and truth, and to fulfill his good purposes for his people.
3. The portrait of Jesus himself: his kindness, devotion, wisdom, power, self-sacrifice and ongoing reign as Savior-King.

If this is not enough to motivate you to take the time to read some of these articles, then consider what is actually taking place: Muslims who believe in the Jesus Christ of the Bible who remain in their heritage as Muslims. Before you say catagorically that that isn’t possible, there are those “on the ground” in these cultures that assure us that it is happening among “open-minded Muslims” that are coming to know the Christ of the gospels. As you can imagine, this is not without controversy among the traditional Christian  Communities in some of the same places. This only confirms some of the issues I have raised on my blog and if nothing else, I hope your curiosity will lead you to want to read more.

The Politics of Jesus

REMEMBERING JOHN HOWARD YODER- Hauerwas

So in a mode uncharacteristic of Yoder’s way of working, I think it best to end with some of John’s own words. This beautiful and exacting passage, beautiful because of its exactness, comes close to the end of The Politics of Jesus. I believe that what John said in it is not only the heart of his work, but also the heart of what it means to live as a disciple of Christ:

The key to the obedience of God’s people is not their effectiveness but their patience. The triumph of the right is assured not by the might that comes to the aid of the right, which is of course the justification of the use of violence and the other kinds of power in every human conflict; the triumph of the right, although it is assured, is sure because of the power of the resurrection and not because of any calculation of causes and effects, nor because of the inherently greater strength of the good guys. The relationship between the obedience of God’s people and the triumph of God’s cause is not a relationship of cause and effect but one of cross and resurrection.

Stanley Hauerwas was a colleague of John Yoder at University of Notre Dame in the      field of Christian Ethics. He was also a very dedicated friend and this tribute to his friend in First Things  following his death in 1997, is an excellent intro to this incredible advocate for christian pacificsm. TO READ MORE

 

 

 

Did St.Paul Change the Message?

         

ARE THERE TWO GOSPELS in the NEW TESTAMENT?

In understanding the contribution of Saint Paul to the New Testament and to the Christian Faith, one of the questions that gets raised is this very issue. Because it has been raised by so many and so often, it can not be ignored nor dismissed. The truth is, at first glance, what Christ began does seem to take a major change in emphasis with the introduction in the biblical narrative of the ministry of the Apostle to the Gentiles, that even good Bible scholars have been confused. Just one example will hopefully make the point and this among christians who are called “bible believing” conservatives.

One very well defined “system” of interpreting the New Testament and dealing with this perceived difference is that which in essence says, “Jesus proclaimed to Israel the gospel of the Kingdom; when Israel rejected his gospel, it was withdrawn, and with the call of Saint Paul, another gospel, the gospel of grace, was then instituted for the gentiles”.

Did Paul preach another gospel, other than the one Jesus preached?

Well, what does the narrative of Scripture say? A very good example of Jesus’ gospel message which can be chosen as representative, is what John records in his gospel (chapter 6) as the discourse on the Bread of Life or the Bread from Heaven, which Jesus taught the Jews in the syagogue in Capernaum. There is much detail in this message of our Lord that is instructive for us, but in order to keep this brief (and wet your desire to study the text for yourself) I want to only focus on one clear statement.  Near the begining, Jesus exhorts his hearers to “labor not for the food which perishes, but for the food that endures to everlasting life…”. Then in answer to their question, “what shall we do, that we may work the works of God”, Jesus answers them and says, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent”!

I don’t believe there is any danger of mistaking this emphasis of Jesus by saying that this is the single emphasis in what I would call Part I of the gospel in the New Testament. It was the major purpose behind the Apostles, Peter and John, following the resurrection and ascension of Christ. The purpose was to proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah promised by God, the fulfillment of all that had gone before and that he had died on the cross as a necessary part of God’s redemptive purpose for Him, and to set his seal upon his perfect work on the cross, God had raised him as the first-fruits of the Resurrection and poured out His Spirit upon His followers, just as He said He would do. This is the basic message that still confronts every person in the world: it is about what God has done once-for-all in the history of humanity which becomes the decisive event until the end of time. The proclamation of what God has done is always for the purpose of eliciting the one thing God now demands of all, repentance towards God and belief in the Savior announced in the Gospel.

Did Paul preach this gospel? He most certainly did! Check out I CORINTHIANS 15 and the earlier post on his sermon in Athens on Mar’s Hill. As you can see hopefully, these are not isolated texts but are at the heart of Paul’s preaching as well as his pastoral letters. One more example is what he reminded the Roman believers about in chapter 10 of that letter: everything begins with the sinner calling out to God for salvation. It is always “near” or at hand but he does have to know some objective truth about Jesus as the Savior God has sent into the world for the purpose of redeeming lost sinners. Paul asks a very logical question: How are they going to call on Him in whom they have not believed? This calling is not some kind of “magical” formula that you mouth after someone has instructed you to “repeat after Me” as “the sinners prayer” that does the trick every time. The calling out to God is filled with the faith that is produced  by being convinced that Jesus is the only Savior, because of his being sent by the Father and by virtue of his agonizing and perfect atonement for sin worked out on a cross outside Jerusalem. Jesus, as he is proclaimed in the authorized and certified gospel is what must be heard before the sinner can call and Paul was acutely aware of that fact.

So what’s all the confusion about? Well, the truth is that there’s a lot more to the gospel of Jesus Christ than just this first part or emphasis that has the purpose of bringing sinners to Jesus as Savior and reconciliation with His Father. This is where the contribution of the Apostle Paul becomes so central. It is not as though the other Apostles did not know the additional part, there is much in Peter’s letters and those of the Apostle John to indicate otherwise. But Paul by far is the one who more thoroughly works out for believers what the consequences are of Christ saving work, the new creation God has initiated in Him and how His Life as the True Vine now flows into and through the branches joined to Him as His Spirit and His Word constitute this whole new way of living under the New Covenant. Believe me, it is radically different from anything in the old order which for the most part, the first Apostles and Jewish disciples continued to live under as the transition from one order to the other took place.

Paul was adamant in maintaining that this part of the gospel he had personally received directly from  the risen Christ himself, and not from the original Apostles (see the letter to the Galatians). I have called this part II of the gospel simply for reasons of showing that there was a definite difference of emphasis and if we are to fully appreciate the advance of the gospel in the New Testament as represented in the ministry of Paul, its helpful to keep this in mind. A whole list of problems in the churches come as a result of not handling these as they are presented in Scripture. One of the gravest of all is what I call “old testament believers in the new testament church”. Sooner or later I will post about what I mean.

Perhaps it will help to remind you that I am an heir to the “radical” wing of the Reformation. I personally look forward to the special emphasis on St.Paul by the Roman Catholics because of a working “thesis” I have been considering for some time: that the Roman Church has largely been built on the foundation of the first part of the gospel-the Jewish Church, if you please, with Saint Peter as their “main man”. One of the main characteristics of the Reformation churches was the rediscovery of the “other” part of the gospel emphasized by Saint Paul. As least the Roman Church has never suggested (as far as I know) that Paul preached another gospel. Let me know what you think.

Faith Missionaries Still Being Called

Are these the true heirs of the Apostle Paul?

Most of you are not familiar with the term “faith missions”, but they make up a sizeable part of the total missionary force of the Church of Jesus Christ in the world today. They follow in the steps of Saint Paul.

Just this week I received the 2007 Yearbook of one of the organizations working in the United States, called the American Missionary Fellowship. Loraine and I have very good friends who left a good position with Ashland Oil in Lexington to answer a CALL to become full time missionaries. Their story of leaving a comfortable life and stepping out on faith, trusting the One who called them to supply their every need has been repeated countless times throughout the history of the Church. These are the original “faith based” organizations and they are more like The Salvation Army (which started as one of them) than the more widely known main-line denominations. Both serve the same Master and are part of the same global purpose.

The American Missionary Fellowship is actually a recent name for a much older mission, THE AMERICAN SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION which has had an amazing influence in the country through primarily establishing sunday schools and publishing christian literature. Officially founded in Philadelphia in 1817, looking over their 2007 Yearbook, I would say they are still in very good form continuing to do faithfully what the Lord of the Harvest brought them into exisitence to do: support and complement the work of the organized churches. I am firmly convinced that both are valid manifestations of Christ at work in the world through his followers. My hearty congratulations to John and Julie and the Union with thanksgiving to the Father of all good gifts for another year of progress.

 

Ecumenism is Alive and Well at ACT3

MISSIONAL-ECUMENISM

My friend, John Armstrong is Director of a ministry to the churches he calls Advancing the Christian Tradition in the Third millennium. Recently I listened to his Director’s Report 2008 and was amazed at what I heard. Included is one of the clearest statements of the necessity of keeping unity inseparably connected with mission. The wisdom and fruit of this concept has been demonstrated in recent history, begining with the “solidarity movements” in Poland that spread to other Communist nations, to the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa. 

I love the passion of this man and his advocatating of MISSIONAL-ECUMENISM, which he believes is the “new” ecumenism that it is taking hold in many places around the globe. If you want to listen to John’s comments on JOHN 17 and the Lord’s prayer, REPORT:PART 2

Essays to begin a Year with Saint Paul

HONORING A MAN IN CHRIST

Paul referred to himself a number of different ways including as “prisoner of the Lord”. The label I have come to love is that of a “man in Christ”. He has been called a lot of names as well such as, “Apostle of Liberty”, but he preferred “apostle to the gentiles”.I have collected some initial essays from various sources and diversity of historical contexts to make available for anyone wanting to join me in studying this man and his ministry. They are here at this url: SAINT PAUL.                                    

Remember, my own interest is primarily in studying his original epistles and trying to keep them in their context. That means we will have to pay close attention to the biblical text and try to put ourselves in the shoes/sandals of those who first read these letters. Only then will we be able to know whether or not essays such as these actually capture the spirit of Paul’s thought and intent.

May the LORD himself grant us “eyes to see, and ears to hear” what Christ is saying through his servant.

ST.PAUL : A Chosen Mud Pot for an Unsearchable Treasure

THE OPEN SECRET- Lesslie Newbigin 

One of the most common metaphors used in the New Testament to describe  the relation of the church to the gospel is that of stewardship. The church, and especially those called to any kind of leadership in the church, are servants entrusted with that which is not their property but is the property of their LORD. (see Paul’s own recognition of such in  I CORINTHIANS 4:1-5)

That  which is entrusted is something of infinite worth as compared with the low estate of the servants in whose hands it is placed. They are but mud pots; but that which is entrusted to them is the supreme treasure (see 2 Cor.4:7). The treasure is nothing less than “the mysteries of God”, “the mystery of the gospel” (Eph. 6:19), “the mystery which was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed and…made known to all nations…to bring about the obedience of faith”(Rom.16:25-26). It is ”the mystery of His will…to unite all things in Him”  (Eph.1:9-10).

It is the open secret of God’s purpose, through Christ, to bring all things to their true end in the glory of the triune God. It is open in that it is announced in the gospel that is preached to all nations; it is secret in that it is manifest only to the eyes of faith. It is entrusted to those whom God has given the gift of faith by which the weakness and foolishness of the cross is known as the power and wisdom of God. It is entrusted to them not for themselves but for all nations. It is Christ in them, the hope of glory.

 

 

      

Can Adam’s Race win the battle for planet earth?

THE BATTLE for MIDDLE EARTH WAS REAL TO THE APOSTLE PAUL                                                                          

 

We noted before that the challenges the Human Race is faced with in the 21st Century are simply staggering. Just to speak of the twin goals of unity and peace which this blog seeks to focus upon and advocate, not to mention the gigantic logistical concerns such as hunger, energy, health, and security. No wonder large numbers are either pessimistic about any positive gains at all or, are so overcome with “gloom and doom” that they have given up on all but just seeking to survive by any means possible.

For those that do seek to be responsible and do what they can to make the world better, there are many sincere folks who still reject a basic premise of Holy Scriptures: Adamic humankind cannot win this battle. If there is to be a “salvation/redemption” it must come from outside the Race, from above- from heaven itself. Many christians are still trying to “patch up” the old Race when God has already clearly condemned it and testified to His provision of an entirely new humanity. Thus the emphasis on “the Ten Commandments”, or “disciplines of the christian life”, or the “how-to’s”, or tradition, or ceremony, or ritual, or a host of “contemporary worship” styles. Now none of these may be wrong-headed ideas in themselves(some of them come from God), they just fail to preach and teach the heart of the Gospel of Christ: salvation is of the Lord and it is His GIFT to sinful and rebellious humanity. But this gift is a Person who brings an entirely new thing to the earth, namely, Himself. It is “external” to every one of us, and for this reason we must repudiate every dependance upon ourselves and learn to live in total dependance upon another.

This is really so simply to demonstrate from the Biblical Narrative that it proves much more is going on in this present confusion and darkness than just our own ignorance and refusal to let God be God. No there’s conspiracy at the highest levels- on the levels of “powers and principalities”, or the powers behind the pawns of world commerce and governments. Listen to Paul’s own “pulling back the curtains” on what our real battle involves:

“…Be strong in the LORD and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of GOD, that you may be able to stand against the schemings of the devil. For we do not wrestle agianst flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:10-12)

 This view of reality comes out in the Biblical narrative over and over again. To neglect it or to take it at less than face value is to already shut yourself off to the light that can effectively lead you out of darkness. The “children of light” are those who have already accepted this as God’s testimony to the unseen things faith must live by. This is why in the Apostles of Christ you will not find anything remotely resembling our current confusion of “smoke and mirrors” but a clear declaration of truth (see 2COR.3:12-4:6).

This is God’s GIFT to the world. Just say NO to Adam’s way of making things better and YES to God’s GIFT. As we consider the Apostle Paul and his writings, we must let him be who he tells us he is. It will require disciplined listening to his own statements of the chief factors in his understanding of and complete trust in the Anointed of Jehovah!

 

 

 

A Golden Opportunity: A Special Jubilee Year

INTERNATIONAL YEAR of SAINT PAUL

A special year in honour of ST.Paul the Apostle has been declared by Pope Benedict XVI. The year will commence on 28th of June, 2008. It may very well be the golden opportunity indeed for all of us to be involved in getting to know for ourselves this Apostle to the Gentiles and the significant role he played in the development of Biblical Christianity.

My suggestion at the begining is to go to the source- go to Paul’s writings themselves. If all Scripture is God’s testimony to his Son Jesus Christ, then surely Paul’s own testimony to the revelation given him of this Christ can be said to be among the richest of all that the Church can study for the knowlege of eternal life.

In a previous post on godly contentment, I left you with a question to ponder which was “ Who taught Paul the art of godly contentment?”  Did you search the Scriptures to find his own answer?

” BUT you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus” (Ephesians 4:20,21)

Yes, Paul consistently claimed that it was the resurrected and exalted Christ himself that personally gave the Apostle his Gospel; that he had been taught by this same Christ, much like those first disciples that found themselves walking with the resurrected Jesus on the road to Emmaus (another earlier post). And what was the unique part of the revelation that was left for Paul to be especially the recorder of for the world and for the Church? I do not hesitate to say that it is “Christ in You”, the little phrase “IN CHRIST” that is so dominant in St.Paul’s writings and ministry.

The universal Church has never been more in need of rediscovering this CHRIST as the source of God’s new humanity and thus the only true source of UNITY. This blog will be participating in the call of a year of Jubilee and post often about Paul’s unique contribution to our access to the treasures of grace found in Christ alone. What would happen if the blog world would do the same and dedicate the priority on searching the Scriptures to see if these things are so, just as some of Paul’s early audiences did at Berea?

 

 CHRIST CALLS SAUL of TARSUS

 

  

 

What’s Gone Wrong Down at that local church?

A lot of folks are asking this and similiar questions about the condition of churches in their neighborhoods after hearing of one more scandal. I certainly don’t want to join in throwing rocks at an already wounded institutional church. But I do want to offer an opinion for you to consider as one of the major weaknesses of local churches I am personally familiar with.

The Chuches have left the Story-line. As it turns out, in almost every case, the bottom lines seems to be that churches have forgotten their charter, their God-given calling.  They seem to be trying their hand at everything under the sun, everything everyone else is now doing, except the very thing they were called into existence to do; live out the life of godliness before the watching world and thus be the instrument of divine healing in the midst of a wicked and rebellious generation. The emphasis here is not on the wickedness of the world, but what God in sending Christ has done to restore his wayward children. The churches are to be local gatherings of the “first-fruits” of those restored to and delighting in the presence and the “shalom”of their heavenly Father while summoning those around them to likewise be converted and join them.

The Testimony of the Father concerning his Son, Jesus Christ, thus becomes the all essential focus of all things in the local church. And this Testimony is found only in the Scriptures-it is a very special Revelation. I found a statement in one of those powerful little books that pretty well sums up what we all need to do in order to recover the spiritual health of the churches:

Consecutive reading of Biblical books forces everyone who wants to hear to put himself, or to allow himself to be found, where God has acted once and for all for the salvation of mankind. We become a part of what once took place for our salvation. Forgetting and losing ourselves, we, too, pass through the Red Sea, through the desert, across the Jordan into the promised land. With Israel we fall into doubt and unbelief and through punishment and repentance experience again God’s help and faithfulness.

We are torn out of our own existence and set down in the midst of the holy history of God on earth. There God dealt with us, and there He still deals with us, our needs and our sins, in judgment and grace. It is not that God is the spectator and sharer of our present life, however important that is; but rather that we are the reverent listeners and participants in God’s action in the sacred story, the history of Christ on earth. And only in so far as we are there, is God with us today also.

A complete reversal occurs. It is not in our life that God’s help and presence must still be proved, but rather God’s presence and help have been demonstrated for us in the life of Jesus Christ. It is in fact more important for us to know what God did to Israel, to His Son Jesus Christ, than to seek what God intends for us today. The fact that Jesus Christ died is more important than the fact that I shall die, and the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead is the sole ground of my hope that I, too, shall be raised on the Last Day. Our salvation is “external to ourselves.” I find no salvation in my life history, but only in the history of Jesus Christ. Only he who allows himself to be found in Jesus Christ, in his incarnation, his cross, and his resurrection, is with God and God with him.

(Life Together- Dietrich Bonhoeffer)