Gerry Charlotte Phelps

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Tonight

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Tonight PBS showed a one-hour film on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and theologian imprisoned by the Nazis for involvement in the group that tried to assassinate Hitler.  His writings and life made him a modern martyr.

When I was newly-Christian in prison, I encountered Bonhoeffer's books.  He became one of my heroes of the faith.  It was he who coined the phrase "cheap grace," which he said was "accepting God's love without cost."

Later I read his letters and writings from prison.  He was in prison two years. When Nazi Germany was crumbling in 1945, they hung him in the prison yard, to make sure he would not be released.  I vividly remember reading his sad and beautiful poem from prison, "Who Am I?"  It was a very hard poem to read in prison - very real to me, at a time when I thought I would never leave prison either.

Later, after paroling and in seminary, one day I was "chapel-sitting" - one of the many ways I paid for seminary.  The elderly pastor who celebrated the wedding there was a famed theologian.  He stayed to chat a bit after the ceremony, and told me he and Bonhoeffer were good friends when they were in seminary in New York.  He laughingly remarked that everyone thought Bonhoeffer was "such a saint, but I can tell you, he was not!"   Oh no.  My heart sank.  Then he went on to say that Bonhoeffer had a terrible temper.  That once when they were playing tennis and Bonhoeffer lost, he threw down his racquet so hard that he smashed it.  That didn't seem so bad, I thought.  Later, of course, I recalled that none of us are perfect, not even our heroes of the faith.

Bonhoeffer was just 39, and newly-engaged, when they hung him in April of 1945.  He had so much to live for.  It is hard to believe now that he was the same age as my father.  My dad also volunteered to fight in WWII, the day after Pearl Harbor, at the old age - then - of 35.  They volunteered on different continents and in different ways, but to bring down the same monster.  I wonder - would I have had that much courage? 

They both are still good examples for me. 

They Are Expecting You

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Rubel Shelly, guest blogger today, writes:

It was a Sunday morning.  A bright and perky mom went in to wake her son and tell him it was time to get up, eat a bite of breakfast, and get dressed for church.  "I'm not going!" he announced.  There was a sullen tone in his voice.

"Hold on, young man!" she replied.  "You know the Sunday routine in this house.  Why don't you want to go to church today?"

"I'll give you two perfectly good reasons," he said.  "First, nobody likes me down at that church.  And second, I don't like them either."

Rather than get exasperated with her boy, the wise mother sat down on the side of his bed.  Rubbing his back very gently, she spoke in her most tender and comforting voice.  "Now, sweetheart, you know you shouldn't feel that way," she began.  "But let me give you two good reasons why you just must get out of bed and go with us.  First, you're 47 years old.  And second, you're the pastor."

Okay.  It's an old story you've heard before.  But it is marvelously adaptable.  It can be Monday mornnig, the people in that office, and their boss.  Or Wednesday morning, the nurses at the clinic, and the doctor.  It even works for Friday morning, traffic court, and the judge.  The reason it is such a flexibla story that fits practically every work situation is that we all have those days or seasons.

When things are going well and everybody's happy with you, there is no problem getting up, going to work, and doing your job.  But things don't always go well.  And people aren't always happy with you.  What then?

Have you noticed how many things are cyclical?  A few good months of sales may be followed by a lean time for the company.  Or maybe it's the mortgage business when interest rates are at historic lows, then the Federal Reserve starts inching rates up again.  It even happens in family life.  There are seasons of health and joy and laughter that seem to vanish overnight in the wake of a heart attack or auto accident or angry exchange.  Does that mean the good times are gone forever?  That it is right just to throw in the towell?

The Bible speaks of a virtue called perserverance.  This noble trait is also known as holding on, staying steady at the task, and persistence.  It deserves more credit than it gets.  And it needs to be cultivated in everyone's character.

Somebody occasionally needs to remind us that tasks need doing because they are ours.  We've made commitments with consequences.  Others are depending on us.  Once we carry through, the outcome can be trusted to the faithfulness and mercy of God.

So what's on your agenda for today?

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For back issues and other resources please visit www.RubelShelly.com

Where Is Your Church - and When?

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Not only where is your church, but when is it? And what is it?  Rubel Shelly, guest blogger,  tells this story:

Dr. Halverson was chaplain of the United STates Senate for several years.  He would occasionally visit the seminary where Cook was a student.  After one of those visits to speak to students, he joined a group of them for coffee and made himself available for informal conversation.

"Dr. Halverson," began one of the seminarians, "where is your church?"  The student was asking about the street location of the Presbyterian Church Halverson served, but he got a deeper and more insightful answer.

"Well, it's three o'clock in Washington, D.C.  The church I pastor is all over the city right now.  It's driving buses, serving meals in restaurants, sitting in board meetings, having discussions in the Pentabon, deliberating in Congress."  He proceeded with a long list of roles and responsibilities where his church was functioning that day.  "And periodically we get together at a building on Fourth Street," he added, "but we don't spend a lot of our time there."

Then Rubel comments,

The pastor-chaplain was not naive with his answer.  He was brilliant.  And he had the clear intent to challenge a young would-be pastor to raise his sights above the Sunday event of the church as an assembly.  Or even church as programs and budgets and organization.

The church was never intended to be isolated from the world but to penetrate it as salt does food.  Jesus wants his people to be "in the world" but not "of the world" - functioning as light to dark places.

Thanks Rubel.  I needed that.  Maybe some others could use it too.

(Rubel Shelly's weekly FAX of Life can be emailed to you free.  Just email him at GBCIII@aol.com )

China May Be New Center of Christianity

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Ten thousand Chinese a day become Christians.  Currently there are as many as 111 million Christians in China (of whom 90% are Protestants.) 

Many are severely persecuted by the Chinese government.  But they also are zealous missionaries and evangelists.   Two Protestant seminaries in China are secretly training missionaries to the Muslims.

By 2050, there are expected to be some 200 million Christians in China.  That would make China the second nation in Christianity, behind only the United States.  (Brazil would be the third.)

So writes "Spengler," the pen-name of the esteemed journalist and thinker who writes anonymously at the Asian Times.  He suspects that:

...Christianity will have become a Sino-centric religion two generations from now.  China may be for the 21st century what Europe was during the 8th-11th centuries, and what America has been for the last 200 years: the natural ground for mass evangelism.  If this occurs, the world will change beyond our capacity to recognize it.  Islam might defeat the Western Europeans, simply by replacing their diminishing numbers with immigrants, but it will crumble beneath the challenge from the East. 

People do not live in a spiritual vacuum, Spengler continues.

...where a spiritual vacuum exists, as in western Europe and the former Soviet Union, people simply die or fail to breed...When war or economics tear people away from their roots in traditional life, what once appeared constant is now shown to be ephemeral.  Christianity is the great liquidator of traditional society, calling individuals out of their tribes and nations to join the ekklesia (church), which transcends race and nation.

The movement of the Chinese into Christianity is their greatest hope for democracy, writes Spengler.

China's network of house churches may turn out to be the leaven of democracy, like the radical Puritans of England who became the Congregationists of New England.  Freedom of worship is the first pre-condition of democracy, for it makes possible freedom of conscience.  The fearless evangelists at the grassroots of China will, in the fullness of time, do more to bring U.S.-style democracy to the world than all the blustering nation-building of President George W. Bush and his advisors.   

(For the effects of migration on the spread of Christianity, and more, read the whole fascinating article.)

Korean Missionaries? In Afganistan??

Korean missionaries are in the news again today, here, because a group of them in Afganistan have been taken hostage.  The pastor and one other have been killed and left by the road.

Release of Taliban prisoners is being demanded in exchange for the other Koreans in the group.

That has become a familiar, weary story.  Foreigners are taken hostage in a Muslim land.  Demands must be fulfilled before they can be freed.  So what else is new?

But the rest of the story seems the stuff of

     (Image from opinionjournal.com)

fantasy.  What in the world are missionaries from Korea doing in a place like Afganistan?  We picture them moving through Afganistan, and it seems unreal.  .We wonder - as many Afganis probably do - what in the world are they doing there?  (As Koreans must have wondered a century ago what all those strange-looking missionaries were doing in their country.)

That story is hard to get a handle on.  It is also something few would ever have predicted.

As Leslie Hook of the Asian Wall Street Journal writes today's U.S. Wall Street Journal,

Asian missionaries are everythere, and today they're often found in some of the world's most dangerous hotspots. 

Who knew?  And why is that?  Ms. Hook continues,

Although only about 30% of South Korea's 49 million citizens are Christian, the country is second only to the U.S. in the number of missionaries it sends abroad.  As of last year, 16,600 Korean missionaries were stationed in 173 countries."

How did this enormous change come about?  Catholic missionaries went to Korea 200 years ago, then Protestant missionaries atreamed into both Korea and China 100 years later.  Many missionaries were targeted and killed.  But they kept coming.  Now there are 350 million Asian Christians, up from about 20 million in 1900.  And more and more Asians are becoming missionaries.

Korean Christian aid workers are one example of missionaries from the "majority world" - continents other than Europe and North America.  South Korea alone has gone from 93 missionaries abroad in 1979 to over 8000 in 2000 and double that by 2006.  About half go to other East Asian countries, and others to places like Jordan, Turkey and Syria.  Missionaries from across the world are still flowing into Asia as well, like the African from Nigeria who runs an underground church in China.

Now there is a backlash in South Korea, with "vacation missionaries" being criticized for going to situations "where they are way out of their depth,"  according to Tim Peters, a Christian living in Korea.  The hostages are being criticized for being naive and the churches for competing with each other to see who can perform the most dangerous missions. 

Several churches and organizations have canceled their trips to Afganistan.  The Korean government has restricted its citizens from traveling to Afganistan without explicit government approval.

Meanwhile, family members of the victims are gathered at Saemmul Church, praying and watching newscasts.  Christians around the country are keeping vigil.  Amid the onslaught of critical voices, many in Korea's Christian community feel misunderstood.

"It's not about competition.....I think missionaries are sharing because they have boldness," says Kim Hee-chan, who works at the Middle East Team, a group that helps organize missionaries.  And, she says, "Missionaries sacrifice."  A fact the hostages in Afghanistan know only too well.

US Military Chaplain Proudly Salutes Flag of Another Nation

If you have not yet discovered the blog of military chaplain Mitch Lewis at http://mitchlewis.net/blog/ , this post from his blog today will give you a very partial idea of what you have been missing.

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SALUTING THE FLAG(S)

I saluted the flag today, and stood at attention as the national anthem was played. Actually, I did it several times as I attended a number of different ceremonies on post. Oh, and it wasn’t always the U.S. flag or “The Star Spangled Banner” that I was saluting. I stood at attention and rendered honors to the colors of our host nation as its beautiful national anthem was played. In fact, our two nation’s flags fly side-by-side all over post.

The people of the nation in which I am stationed are proud of their country and its flag. They have plenty of reason to be proud of their accomplishments over the past half-century and their thousand year old culture.

As I stood saluting the colors of a nation not my own - but which I will spend the next two years defending - I thought about the ignorant argument of some self-described “progressive” Christians that equates patriotism and patriotic acts with idolatry. The existence of nation-states is NOT the root of the world’s problems. Love of one’s own country does not stop one from respecting or cooperating with the people of other nations. It certainly does not imply that one has given one’s nation the absolute and unconditional loyalty due only to God.

If some misguided Christians think that I’m committing idolatry and worshiping “the American imperial god” when I salute my national colors, I wonder what god they think I’m worshiping when I salute the flag of my host nation.

Military chaplains are often in as much danger as the service men and women they serve.  Chaplains fill a vital role in supporting their spiritual needs, standing beside them in grief and addressing their searching questions.  They are too little in our prayers.  And we honor them too little. 

Do yourself a favor and track Mitch's blog.  Do him a favor by adding him and other chaplains to your prayers.

(Mitch cannot say where he is stationed, only that it is not Iraq or Afganistan.  The photo above is not from his location.)

(See also Marvin Olasky's article "Caught With Their Flags Down", at the excellent World Magazine, at http://www.worldmag.com/articles/13016.  Hat Tip to Joseph Slife.)

Little Kindnesses Matter

The following is "More Valuable Than You Know," Rubel Shelly, The FAX of Life, June 25, 2007. 

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Richard Liggett Made Ruth Graham's Coffin

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Remember the story in the Bible of a lad whose sack lunch was put into the hands of Jesus and miraculously multiplied into food enough for 5,000?  With a dozen baskets of scraps and leftovers picked up afterward?

Remember what Oskar Schindler did in rescuing Jews from the Holocaust?  Against the millions who died though, Schindler discounted what he was able to do.  There were so few he could help to save.

When it comes to truly "little things," who is going to remember your kindness to an elderly lady whose name you didn't even know?  What will it matter if you visit a sick friend in the hospital?  And what difference would it make for you to help with your church's Sunday School or youth camp?

There seems to be a prevailing view to the effect that only the big and splashy, noisy and expensive things matter.  It just isn't so!

Richard Liggett has made coffins for the past couple of decades or more.  They weren't expensive or ornate, mind you.  He and a crew of men who worked with him built coffins from birch plywood, lined them with foam padding covered with fabric, and put brass handles on the side.  A cross typically adorned the top.  The total cost of each coffin was a modest $215.

Ruth Graham was buried in a coffin made by Liggett.  She died earlier this month at age 87, after a long illness.  A matching coffin has already been made, purchased, and stored away for her husband - Evangelist Billy Graham.

In the press coverage around Mrs. Graham's death, her simple coffin became a story.  When people asked about the unusually simple and unadorned casket in which her body had been placed, the name of Richard Liggett became public.  And I'm sure there would have been a rush to interview him about the project, if he were still alive.  He died of cancer in March of this year.

Liggett died an inmate at the Louisiana State Penitentiary.  He was 31 years into a life sentence for second-degree murder.  Christ found and claimed him there, and he spent his final years not only building caskets, but sharing the gospel with fellow inmates.  The Grahams' son, Franklin, saw Liggett's work on a visit to Lousiana's penitentiary at Angola and was struck by its simple beauty.

Before he died, he said that the most profound thing he ever did was to build coffins for Ruth and Billy Graham.

Who says "little things" don't matter?  Seldom get noticed?  Don't make a difference?  So why should you shrink back from a less-than-spectacular chance to do something kind or holy or encouraging?

If no one else sees or cares, God does.  And that is all that matters.

(A member of the North Carolina Honor Guard stands beside the casket of Ruth Graham before a memorial service for her Saturday.  Associated Press)

(Reprinted here by permission.  The FAX of Life is available weekly by email from GBCIII@aol.com)

Are the Biblical Gospels Accurate and True?

CAN WE TRUST THE GOSPELS?  Bible Scholar Mark D. Robert's new book says "Yes!"

"Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John"

is now available.

Order it from Amazon by clicking here

This book is a clear, straightforward explanation of why we can trust the New Testament Gospels to give us solid historical information about Jesus. I deal with such questions as:

• Can we know what the original Gospel manuscripts really
said?

• Did the evangelists know Jesus personally?

• When were the Gospels written?

• What sources did the Gospel writers use?

• Did early Christian oral tradition reliably pass down the
truth about Jesus?

• What are the New Testament Gospels?

• What difference does it make that there are four Gospels?

• Are there contradictions in the Gospels?

• If the Gospels are theology, can they be history?

• Do miracles undermine the reliability of the Gospels?

• Do historical sources from the era of the Gospels support their reliability?

• Does archeology support the reliability of the Gospels?

• Did the political agenda of the early church influence the content of the Gospels?

• Why do we have only four Gospels in the Bible?

• Can we trust the Gospels after all?

I have written this book not for experts in biblical studies, but for all people who seek to understand the Gospels as trustworthy historical documents.

Endorsements for Can We Trust the Gospels?

“What F. F. Bruce did for my generation of students, Mark Roberts has done for the current generation. Any student who asks me if our Gospels are reliable will be given this book, and then I’ll buy another copy for the next student!”

—Scot McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies, North Park University

“Mark Roberts has produced what has long been needed: a highly read- able and compelling account of why Christians can indeed trust the Gospels. Dr. Roberts is a formidable scholar whose reputation is very high among academics. He is a skilled writer and teacher. He is also an innovative force in the world of Christian apologetics, among the very first to see the potential for blogging as a formidable means of pursuing the Great Commission.

“I have had Dr. Roberts on my radio show more than any other theolo- gian or pastor, for several reasons. First, he has been a very good friend for a long time. But much more important is his ability to communicate and the knowledge he has accumulated through his three decades of serious and thorough study of the Gospels and the scholarship around them. Whenever a major controversy erupts that touches on the Christian faith, I call on Dr. Roberts.

“Can We Trust the Gospels? is quite simply the best effort I have ever read by a serious scholar to communicate what scholars know about the Gospels and why that should indeed encourage us to trust them and thus to trust Jesus Christ.”

—Hugh Hewitt, radio talk show host, author, blogger, and Professor of Law at Chapman University School of Law 

“There is a crisis of confidence about the Gospels, fueled by sensational claims about supposedly new Gnostic Gospels with a ‘revised standard’ view of Jesus. With a pastor’s insight but a scholar’s critical acumen, Mark Roberts provides a readable guide to answering the question, Can we trust the Gospels? As Mark makes clear, the earliest and best evidence we have for the real Jesus is the canonical Gospels, not the much later Gnostic ones.”

—Ben Witherington III, Professor of New Testament, Asbury Theological Seminary, author of What Have They Done with Jesus?

“Can We Trust The Gospels? caught me completely by surprise. While I knew a scholar of Mark Roberts’s caliber could convince skeptics the Gospels are reliable, I never expected to have my own preconceptions uprooted and replaced with a more solid trust in these biblical texts. This book not only makes a compelling case for trusting the Gospels, it illuminates the creative ways in which God worked to bring us His Word. Roberts’s brilliant little book deserves to be widely read by both skeptics and believers.”

—Joe Carter, blogger (evangelicaloutpost.com) and Director of Communications for the Family Research Council

Order Can We Trust the Gospels? from Amazon by clicking here

Hillary, George, Methodists and Homosexuality

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This one can be a bit tricky to follow, but not really hard.  It is from the Wall Street Journal's Opinion Journal, Best of the Web Today, June 7, 2007, editor, James Taranto (available free by email.)  Here is the story:

"ABC News reports that in 1991, the United Methodist Church--Hillary Clinton's denomination--considered 'changing its view that homosexuality violates Christian teaching.'

"During its deliberations, the church sought an expert opinion from a physician, James Holsinger, who produced an eight-page paper titled 'Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality.'  Holsinger's paper did not address the question of whether 'homosexuality violates Christian teaching.'  Rather, it discussed reproductive anatomy and the medical risks of certain types of male homosexual activity.

"Ultimately, the UMC did not change its position.  As noted here, Mrs. Clinton's church still adheres to the view that 'the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.  Therefore self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in the United Methodist Church.'   

"The separation of church and state notwithstanding, the United Methodists' deliberations on homosexuality have suddenly become a subject of interest to the U.S. Senate, because the president has nominated Holsinger to be surgeon general.  According to ABC, 'Doctors who reviewed the paper derided it as prioritizing political ideology over science, and Democratic aides on Capitol Hill say the paper will make his confirmation hearings problematic, if not downright bruising.'

"So what did the paper say?  ABC's Web site headlines the article '"Homosexuality Isn't Natural or Healthy."'  It puts these words in quotation marks even though they are not a direct quote.  We have read the paper and will link to it as soon as we get done warning you that it contains a lot of discussion (in clinical, not vulgar, terms) of the mechanics of sexual intercourse as well as other, less familiar sexual behavior.  OK, here's the link. 

"Here are Holsinger's two main claims:

  - The sexes are "fully complementary."

  - Compared with ordinary intercourse, erotic activity that involves the alimentary tract poses far greater risks   of injury and infection.

"The first of these is obvious to all human beings and probably most lower mammals as well.  The second is obvious to anyone who has occasion to think about the subject.  (To those readers who would rather not, our apologies.)

"At some level this is sort of funny:  Mrs. Clinton's church had to find itself a medical expert to explain the facts of life.  But what is chilling is that Holsinger now finds himself under political attack for stating the obvious.

"This column takes a live-and-let-live approach on this subject, pretty much across the board.  Mrs. Clinton's church's position on homosexuality is nobody's business but Mrs. Clinton and her coreligionists'.  What consenting adults do in private is no one else's business either.

"But when political activists try to render the complementarity of the sexes a taboo subject, and when one of the two major parties seems ready to accede to this Orwellian effort, something is seriously askew in our political culture." (Bolding added.)

(Interestingly, George and Laura Bush are also United Methodists, although that was not mentioned in this article.)

Hostile "Authorities" Stop Shad in Kenya

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Shad and Sheila Williams and their team are presently on an evangelistic trip to eastern Kenya.  Shad emailed this morning asking for our prayers.  Yesterday hostile "authorities" appeared and stopped them from continuing to hold a meeting in a market.

Eastern Kenya is near the border of Somalia, a country made very dangerous by Islamist warlords.  Islamists are also trying to come to power in Kenya.  This does not sound good. 

Your prayers for them at this time are very important.

Christians, the Poor, the Climate and - Vegetarianism!

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What do the poor and the climate have to do with vegetarianism?  A lot, it turns out.

First, take the climate.  There may be Global Warming.  But the big question is whether humans are causing it.  Most assume we are.

So we are urged to cut back on producing carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse warming gas.  That means cutting back on electricity and transportation.  But CO2 accounts for only about 3% of the global warming gasses.  And human-caused CO2 is only 4.5% of that 3%, or 0.00135% of the total, here. 

In fact, water vapor accounts for 95% of all global warming gases.  All the other warming gases together account for only 5% of the total, here.

But according to the UN, methane is a much greater cause of global warming than CO2, here. Livestock alone accounts for 18% of all warming from methane.  Methane is also 20 times more climate-warming than CO2. So getting rid of much of the 1.5 billion cows in the world would slow global warming much more than getting rid of all planes, trains, ships and automobiles.  That's what vegetarianism could do.

Second, take the world's poor.

In 1970, Frances Moore Lappe pointed out in her best-seller, "Diet for a Small Planet," that eating grains and legumes directly is much less of a burden on the earth than feeding them to livestock, then eating the meat.  The poor can much more easily afford a pound of grain and legumes than a pound of meat.  For those who want to help the poor, not eating animal products is a real contribution.

There is no ecological need to eliminate all meat-eating.  Large areas of the world are too dry or too cold to support food crops, but provide grazing lands for livestock and game.  If more meat was grass-fed, not grain and soy-fed, then crop lands could grow grain and other food crops to feed people directly rather than to produce meat.  That would help the world's poor, and still provide grass-fed meat.

Third, a plant-based diet can easily support a much larger world population

A  plant-based diet produces far more protein per acre of cropland.  For instance, an acre of grain produces 5 times as much protein, an acre of beans 10 times as much, and an acre of green leafy vegetables 15 times as much, as an acre of grain fed to livestock!*

But isn't animal protein necessary for optimum human health and strength?

Actually, vegetarianism is better.  Large-scale, long-term population studies such as "The China Study" have shown that populations that are largely vegetarian have few of the "degenerative" diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer's, etc., although they do still have the infectious diseases.  But when such populations turn to a more "Western" diet, then they develop the degenerative diseases.**

As to strength, most athletes perform better on a diet high in complex carbohydrates.  With the exception of body-builders, most athletes do not need a huge amount of protein.  instead, they need to "load" on carbs.  A vegetarian diet provides plenty of protein anyhow, normally at least 50 grams a day.

So....

Not everyone is attracted to a vegetarian diet - although it can be very tasty.  Choice of diet is a free, individual decision.  But it seems clear that the more vegetarianism there is, the better.

It would help with global warming gases more than eliminating all human sources of CO2.  It would be a great help to the world's poor.  The croplands already in use could support a much bigger world population.  And individual health can be improved by vegetarianism.

For these reasons, Christians who are concerned about the poor, the environment, and being good stewards of their own bodies, should not dismiss the very large potential benefits of vegetarianism.

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*"Diet for a Small Planet," Frances Moore Lape, Ballentine, 1971, 1975, p. 10

**See www.drmcdougall.com.

Christianity Without Salvation

Experienced poverty workers (including myself) have learned at first hand that the traditional "Social Gospel" of the church is not merely useless, but often actually harmful to the very poor it aims to help.  How did such good intentions bring forth such bad "unintended consequences"?

An article on the 100 year anniversary of the book that started the Social Gospel sheds much light on that puzzle, here.  That seminal

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book was Walter Rauschenbusch's "Christianity and the Social Crisis".

In what social and political climate did Rauschenbusch write?  It was the "Progressive Era," with great industrial and social upheaval. "The Muckrakers" produced Edward's book, "The Robber Barons", Thorstein Veblen's "The Theory of the Leisure Class" and Ida Tarbell.s book on Big Oil.  There was Prohibition, the struggle for the vote for women and the rise of Big Labor. 

                       John D. Rockefeller Sr.

                   (Image from Wikimedia.org)

Social Darwinism was in its heyday then, with its Eugenics (population control in order to eliminate the "inferior.")  Socialism had a strong appeal to intellectuals.  John Dewey famously called Communism "intrinsically religious" with the "moving spirit and force of primitive Christianity."

Laconte writes, "As such, Rauschenbusch's gospel had little need of a Savior.  It merely displaced the problem of evil -- the supreme tragedy of the human soul in rebellion against God -- with the challenge of social iniquities.  The Kingdom of Heaven would come soon enough, if only we put our hands to the plow."

"Perhaps this earth-bound emphasis explains the Social Gospel's naive embrace of morally dubious causes, including eugenics and abortion.  We underwrite modern social programs with similar illusions about human nature.  Thus drug "maintenance" (methodone) programs, to take but one example, leave the sourge of addiction largely untouched because they do not address its moral and spiritual causes.'

In the 100 years since 1907, many of the Progressive Era's issues have been mooted.  Prohition has come and gone, while Big Labor is now understood to be a major cause of Europe's economic stagnation.  The care of the poor by the government has also been tried.  But since the demise of the welfare system in 1996, which brought higher employment and income levels to the poor, government help is no longer considered the best help for the poor.

Meanwhile the intellectuals' great hope of Socialism/Communism was dashed when the Soviet Union imploded in 1989, after a failed 70-year socialist experiment.   Stubborn attachment to Socialism and to government intervention in the free market still persists.  But it weakens, the more that caplitalism benefits more and more people. 

Now U.S. Government statistics clearly show that not only are the rich getting richer, but so are the poor.  And UN statistics have just shown that the poor are getting richer all over the world, primarily due to free trade. The evidence appears insurmountable that being employed or having a small business, not hand-outs, is what has helped the world's poor the most in the last decade.

In short, the stances taken by the Progressives of that era and by the Social Gospel have since proven to be counter-productive, socially, economically and politically. 

That means that to base our beliefs on the Social Gospel means going in the wrong direction, if what we truly want is to help those less fortunate.  Christians should take note.  The Social Gospel is not good for society!  More sadly, it has not been good for those at whom the Social Gospel has aimed.

But even more importantly, what has the Social Gospel done to the church and the Christian faith? 

Rauschenbusch disbelieved in the "crude and misleading" idea of a  Second Coming of Christ, which "offered no motive for an enobling transformation of the present life."  The Christianity of his youth looked unfit to cope with the "industrial crisis" of his day. 

Loconte writes, "It is hard to see how Rauschenbusch's theology could be called Christian in any meaningful sense of the term.  It required no repentance or atonement and carried no fear of judgement or bracing hope of eternal life."  Rather, his writings were full of the dogmas of Darwin, Marx and Herbert Spencer, not so much the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles.

He thought the poor did not need Christianity so much as other things.  Yet studies and experience of the last two decades have shown that traditional Christianity has been the best hope of the poor, what has led to a better life for them in this world.  Such studies as those showing that disadvantaged youths who attend church regularly are less likely to commit crimes, and that fatherlessness is the most reliable predictor of who will be poor.**  Studies showing that fatherlessness is less common among Evangelical Christians.**  Studies showing that Evangelical Christians give the most to the poor, and volunteer most.*  And hundreds of such scholarly studies, on and on.**

In short, traditional Christianity - the kind with its basic, Biblical beliefs intact - is and has always been the best help to the disadvantaged, not only with hope for heaven, but also during their time on earth.  Becoming a Christian, or trying anew to live closer to Christian tenets, is what I have seen help the poor and the criminal more than any other single thing, in my 7 years in prison, and in helping some 5000 poor people "up and out" afterwards.***

The evidence is that the Social Gospel is clearly, simply wrong.  The traditional gospel has done far more good for the afflicted here on earth, without damaging the orthodox Christian faith.

_____

*"Who Really Cares," Arthur C Brooks, Basic Books, 2006.

**See Chapter 6 in my book, "Up and Out: True Compassion for the Poor", especially the footnotes, here.

***See my prison account in "Out of the Iron Furnace" at www.outoftheironfurnace.blogspot.com, Chapters 7, 15, 16 and 17.

United Methodist Bishops May Move Homosexual Agenda Forward Next Week

(Image from home.centurytel.net)

This is all about homosexuality and the United Methodist Church.

All 69 active and 92 retired Bishops of the United Methodist Church will be meeting in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina from Sunday April 29 through Sunday May 6.  They will consider the proposal some bishops are developing that would divide the U.S. United Methodist Church from the overseas United Methodist Church.

Why is this about homosexuality?  Because the African Methodists are the "swing vote" that has kept the United Methodists from accepting homosexual ordination and marriage.  If the liberals among the Bishops can succeed in dividing the UMC into two separate churches - at least when it comes to voting on this matter - they would have a better chance of enacting their agenda on homosexuality into church law.

If their ploy should succeed, and if they then succeed in enacting their agenda on homosexuality, the UMC would begin to split apart, just as the Episcopal and Anglican churches are doing over this issue.

That is why this coming meeting is of extreme importance in the life of the United Methodist Church.  It should be a matter of urgent prayer for all United Methodists.

Gay Episcopal Bishop to Join Partner in Civil Union

             New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson

                               (Image from Jim Cole, AP)

"New Hampshire is set to become the nation's fourth state to offer civil unions for gay couples after legislation approved by the state Senate on Thursday was sent to Gov. John Lynch, who has said he would sign it. here.

"'My partner and I look forward to taking full advantage of the new law,' Robinson told The Associated Press.

"Robinson, 59, was elected the ninth Episcopal bishop of New Hanpshire four years ago, making him the church's first openly gay bishop.  His elevation divided the Anglican community.

"Robinson's partner of 18 years, Mark Andrew, 53, is a state health care administrator.  They live in Weare, a small town west of Concord."

Since Robinson was elected, the Episcopal Church has been in the process of breaking apart, with some churches leaving the denomination and some trying to put themselves under African Anglican Bishops.

Robinson's entering into a civil union with his partner can only further fray the already-tenuous union of the Episcopal Church and its larger communion, the world-wide Anglican church.

Top Scientist and His Faith

                        (Image from achievement.org)

Much of the chattering class believes that no thinking scientist could possibly be a Christian.  Or even any rational intelligent person.  But many scientists, and countless other intelligent people, are in fact Christian.

One of them is "...arguably the most important doctor and scientist on the planet today."  So writes Joel Rosenburg here.  He is Dr. Francis S. Collins, the director of the Human Genome Project.

"He and his colleagues have mapped out the 3 billion letters of the human genetic code imprinted into each of our cells...They are figuring out the Creator's 'instruction book' for the human body, and thus racing to find cures for cancer, diabetes, and so many other horrible diseases."

But did Dr. Collins perhaps "inherit" a strong Christian faith from his family, such that he clung to it in spite of all his scientific training?  Actually, religion was not important to his family.  So he grew up as an agnostic, later deciding he was an atheist.

Then one day Dr. Collins visited a patient who was dying of cancer.   She explained that "...she had no fear of dying because she had a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.  She explained that God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives, and offers us a way to eternal life through Jesus.  Then she asked, 'Doctor, what do you believe?'"

He fled the room as fast as he could.  "He was touched by her story and moved by her faith."  But he couldn't answer her question.  So he began a search of the evidence for Christianity.  Eventually the evidence convinced him, and he became a Christian. 

Although only about 40% of scientists are Christian, Dr. Collins says he sees no contradiction between his science and his faith.  He says that now "...he sees science as a means both of discovery as well as worship." 

The more he learns of how God has created and wired us, the more he feels he has "...caught a glimpse of God's mind."

Nearly 6 Million Converts - And Why You Never Heard of Him

          (Image from concierge.com)

Recently I wrote a friend this:

"Dear Carol,

"Shad is an absolute marvel.  I know of no individual in history with as many conversions.  How is it that he is not in headlines every week?  Or being begged to come and speak at every seminary and church?  I don't understand it

"Gerry"

Carol emailed this back:

"Dear Gerry,

"That is a great question and one that bothered me immensely until I learned a basic fact I never knew, when I went over to Malawi and Kenya with Shad to spread the gospel.

"There is a basic difference in being a missionary and being an evangelist.  There are many missionaries.  They are usually part of a large denomination or Christian organization.  Most missionaries go and fill a specific assignment at a specific place or area.  They do not wander around the country like Shad spreading the gospel.

"Shad is not a missionary.  Shad is an evangelist.  What I have learned about evangelists is that they are not large in number, and most come out of small ministries that are independent so no one ever hears of them.

"Some years ago when I went to Malawi with Shad, we stayed three days at the Baptist mission in the capitol city of Lilongwe, so we could drive to places outside Lilongwe and preach out in the field.  The head Baptist Missionary lived at the mission.  He told me there were 50 Baptist missionaries in Malawi.

"Also I visited with an Irish Presbyterian missionary who was living there.  All the Baptist missionaries were assigned to hospitals, schools, clinics, etc., to help the poor and needy.  The Presbyterian worked in a local school where he served as the chaplain of that school.  There were mostly Christians in the school so he did what school counselors do.  Evangelism was not in his job description. 

"The Baptists did have one weekend a year where lay people came to Malawi from America.  Then they, along with the missionaries, went out to do talks in places like soccer stadiums where some publicity beforehand invited people to attend.  I doubt any of them got as far away in the boondocks as we did.  We were six hours away at times from a village or a hard top road.

"Shad goes where no one else goes.  Many we spoke to said no one had ever come to that area to talk about Jesus.  Many never heard Jesus' name before we arrived.  We set up loud speakers in fields, bus stops, market places and places in suburbs of cities where construction workers took the usual noon break.  None of these people were looking to go to an event.

"Shad's motto is 'We go to them.'  And that describes it.  The harvest is ripe because the people have never heard the gospel.  The miracle of Shad's success is that he goes where the fruit is hanging on the vine and there is plenty of it.  He goes where no one else has been.

"Shad also works only three countries now, which he knows like the back of his hand, and has plenty of indigenous help.  Shad picks converts with a heart for evangelism and personally trains them.  He puts them on the payroll, usually for something higher than the national average salary, about about $100 to $150 per month.  He makes them part of his staff and team.  He must have 20 full-timers and many more part-timers doing campaigns with him, then on their own when he is back in the States.

"Shad even started a seminary in India which has two courses; a one-year one for church planters, and a six-month one for evangelist training.  They graduate a good number each year at low cost, because the Catholics gave Shad an old monastary where the students sleep on their bedrolls.  So all it takes is Shad's staff training these guys and some food to get them by.  He operates an entire seminary on what we pay a single public school teacher in the U.S.  They do on-the-job training.  Shad's staff can now do evangelism without Shad and do it year-round when Shad is not there.

"The big thing in my opinion (and I am not an expert on any of this, just having been to Malawi and to Kenya and on Shad's Board for 20 years) is that the Holy Spirit has annointed Shad for this ministry in a big way.  Shad never gets off-target.  He never loses focus.  If you were to ask Shad to preach at your church, he would do a great job.  I know his sermon, however, word for word.  He will present the gospel.  He can't talk about anything else.

"His wife Sheila is a good musician, brilliant organizer, and as much of this as he is.  They have walked in faith like no one I have ever known.  Time and time again Shad gets ready to leave with nothing in the cupboard.  Then on the day of departure, some strange and unexpected contribution comes his way.  So he makes his flight and the rest is history.

"But having said all of this, I still have never seen Shad be the subject of any article in any Christian magazine.  He has offered to partner with denominations.  But they are interested only if they could take over where Shad would be subject to a bureaucracy and control by those who don't know the business like he does.

"So one of the great stories in Christianity today is virtually untold.  But with millions of converts and such a small staff, I guess one doesn't need the story told - except to the indigents in those foreign places who have never heard the gospel.

"Thanks for asking.  And thanks for your support of Shad and getting the word out with your ministry.

"Sincerely,

"Carol Vance"

(Carol Vance, by the way, is the then-D.A. who sent me to prison.  He and his wife are now my good friends.)

(Shad Williams ministry is at www.wegotothem.com)

Shad Williams' Daily Prayer - and Mine

                        (Image by concierge.com)

Shad Williams is in Kenya now on a we-go-to-them evangelizimg trip.  Last year he and his team had over 720,000 decisions for Christ.  In his 25-year ministry there have been nearly SIX MILLION converts.  Yet Shad and Sheila NEVER ask for money for their ministry.  EVER.  They live "by faith."  And the money always comes in, although occasionally not until they are about to leave for the airport.  How to they live this way? 

Here is the daily prayer Shad has been praying all those years.)

Lord Jesus, today:

I ADMIT

that I cannot run my own life, my famiy, my business, my ministry, or anything else.  But Lord,

I BELIEVE in YOU. 

I believe in Your PRESENCE in my life, family, business, ministry and circumstances.  I believe in Your eternal PURPOSE for each.  I believe in Your supernatural PROVISION to meet every need.  I believe in Your POWER to control every circumstance and situation.  I believe in Your everlasting PROTECTION from every form of evil.  I believe in Your perfect PLAN for me today.  Therefore Lord,

I CHOOSE

Your will for my life, my family, my business, my ministry and my circumstances today - even though I may not yet know what it is.  I choose by faith Your perfect will for me today.  I choose to receive by faith all that You have for me today, and I thank you for sending it.

In Your name I pray, Lord Jesus.

Amen.

A DIFFERENT WAY TO PRAY

(HT to Pat Palau)

Philip Yancy writes this on prayer:

"...My conclusions will unfold only gradually, but I begin here because prayer has become for me much more than a shopping list of requests to present to God.  It has become a re-alignment of everything.  I pray to restore the truth of the universe, to gain a glimpse of the world, and of me, through the eyes of God.

"In prayer I shift my point of view away from my own selfishness.  I climb above the timber line and look down at the speck that is myself.  I gaze at the stars and recall what role I or any of us play in the universe beyond comprehension. Prayer is the act of seeing reality from God's point of view."

From Prayer: Does It Make A Difference? by Philip Yancey

YOUTH EVANGELISM TAKES 'EXTREME' MEANS. SO WHAT?

Does old-time evangelism still work?  Or that old "Little Bo Peep" method?  You know - "Leave them alone and they'll come home, wagging their tails behind them."  Are there some other choices?

How about the outdoor "CityFest" put on in Houston last week by evangelist Luis Palau's team?  Certainly not "your father's" evangelistic campaign!  Two days in a reserved city park beside a blocked-off central traffic artery.  Multiple venues and stages, giant screens, continuous action.  Extreme sports.  Sport stars.  Big music stars,  One of the Baldwin brothers.  Wall-to-wall media coverage, here.

The results?  Over 225,000 in attendance over 2 days.  Over 4000 decisions for Christ.  People drawn into local churches, youth into youth groups.  People came, saw, sang along, laughed, applauded, cheered - and heard the gospel.  Many changed.  A city of millions saw and heard the coverage, saw the spotlights in the night sky, the crowds, heard the distant music and the roars.  Many noticed.  There was an impact on attitudes and thinking.

What did it take?  At least 2 years of preparation, at a guess.  Raising some $3.75 million in Houston.  Involving some 600 local churches.  Recruiting and training over 7000 volunteers. A big staff.  Meticulous planning and execution.  Working like dogs.  Was it worth it?  Be serious!  What alternative was there?

Or how about the ministries to addicts written about by Dr. George Hunter III in "The Celtic Way of Evangelism?"  Addicts are, unfortunately, a significant part of the population, especially the young.  They put themselves beyond reach, in a culture so closed, so all-encompassing that it defines every part of their lives.  Their culture also provides the drug lords with their best recruiting tool, their guaranteed market.  Younger, newer addicts are always joining them.

The only way for most drug users to "kick" the drug culture is to switch to the "recovery culture."  This is where Christians do their work with them.  They sometimes have to form their own churches.  With their tattoos, body-piercing and behavior patterns, they are not welcome at most churches.  Parents in "normal" churches fear they will attract their own children to drugs.  My old friend, evangelist George Phillips, pastors a church of drug addicts in Kentucky.  Did other churches ask him to do that?  No, it was the county Sheriff!  The Sheriff knew they needed Christianity, and worried that churches did not want them.  So he approached Pastor Phillips on his own.

Should Christians try to evangelize junkies?  Or would it be better to leave them in their trap?  As a source of most of the robberies in the country?  Better to leave them as an attraction for younger kids?  Better to leave them as the basic "demand" that supports the "supply" of drugs, the murderous crime syndicates and the filthy-rich drug lords running and ruining so many of the poorest parts of the world?  Please!  Instead, we need them to be the productive people they can be.

How about other "outcast" or "off-beat" groups?  Ex-cons?  Bikers?  How about unbelievers of all kinds?  Dr. Hunter points out that we are surrounded again by "barbarians," the old term meaning pagans or non-Christians.  He recommends we evangelize them with the ancient Celtic missionary methods.  Not waiting for them to come to us, but going to them instead, as teams.  Getting to know them and their ways, and offering them Christianity in new ways.  Ways that are attractive to them, but without sacrificing anything truly essential in the Christian faith.   

Does that seem hard?  Then think of evangelizing in mostly-pagan Europe.  Luis Palau once told a group of us that about 20,000 was then considered good attendance at a conventional evangelism campaign in the U.S. But 2000 was good in the UK and 200 in Europe.  So what should we do about evangelizing Europe?  Just too hard?  No worries.  The Muslims love to evangelize Europeans!  We could just leave it to them.

In most U.S. churches it is not nearly that hard.  What is involved there is changing style, not substance.  Doing whatever is possible to attract the younger generation.  If not, who will carry Christianity forward here - those born before 1940 or earlier?  How much longer would they be able?  The U.S. church may think its task of re-inventing itself is hard and painful..  But the alternative is appallingly more hard and painful, in ways we must hurry to understand.

The three big questions this generation will answer are: Do we want our children and grandchildren to be Christian?  Do we want them to live in Christian countries?  Do we want the West to continue to exist? 

If the answer is "Yes," then we must invent or copy whatever kinds of evangelism it takes to achieve that, whether "extreme" or not.  If we throw ourselves into it as we have not done for generations, it can work.

LOOKING BEYOND THE EMPTINESS

(By Guest Blogger Shad Williams.

You should know that Shad and Sheila Williams practice what he recommends here, and have for 29 years.  The Lord does not permit them to ever ask for funds.  Sometimes, as a result, funds for a trip to, say, Africa may not come in until they actually leave for the airport.  Yet it has always come.  Would you like to know the thinking that goes with that kind of faith? Here is Shad's letter to you.)

Dear Christian,

Do you have "empty places" in your life, needs you cannot meet, problems you cannot solve? Probably. Are you praying about those things with little or no apparent results? Maybe you need to change your focus - look "beyond the emptiness" to God's supply.

In I Kings 17:10-16, we find Elijah asking a widow woman for something that she did not have and could not make - bread.  Her reply was that all she had was a meal barrel that was empty, except for a small hand-full, and an oil jar containing only a few drops. Elijah knew that, and yet he asked her to make enough bread for him, herself and her son.

How could he make such an unreasonable requrst of that poor woman?  Because he could "see beyond the emptiness."  He could see the inexhaustible supply of God.

In Matthew 14:15-21, we find the disciples in a similar situation, only they needed enough bread to feed 5000 men, plus women and children. They were in a panic, not because of short supply, but because of short-sightedness.  They could see only the five loaves they had, in the visable, rather than the thousands Jesus had in the invisible. They could not see "beyond the emptiness."

Many years ago (before Jesus) I had a job working for a men's clothing company that owned four stores in Memphis. My job was to maintain a running inventory in all the stores and keep the floors stocked with everything except suits.

Now let's suppose that one of the stores was low on oxford cloth shirts. It was my responsibility to "fix that problem" to meet that need.  But how was I going to do that? I had no money with which to buy more shirts from the manufacturer.  I had no truck to haul them in, if I could buy them.  And I certainly did not know how to make shirts.

Operating on my own, out of my own ability and resources, I was in a hopeless situation. But I was not on my own.  All I had to do was look "beyond the emptiness" to the supplier, and use the authority given to me by the owner of the company.  When the stock was low, I would count up what was needed to fill it in. Then I would send a purchase order to the manufacturer containing a specific request - colors, sizes, quantity, etc.  Then I would receive a confirmation of shipment.

Because I believed it was coming, I would prepare for its arrival.  I would make sure there was room on the shelf to receive it. I would have the pricing machines set up in advance to process it, so it could get to the floor as soon as possible. I did not know how it was coming - that is, what truck line they would use or what route he would take.  That was up to the shipper and was not my concern.  My concern was to be ready for it to arrive.

Now how did I do all that?  I was just a kid with no money, no recognition and no authority . The manufacturer did not know my name and had no reason to trust me.  Well, here is how I did it.  I used the owner's money and I filed the order in his name.

Now what do you think the manufacturer did when they received my order?  Did they go to work frantically making shirts? No, they were already made.  They were in boxes stacked up in a warehouse just waiting for me to call. The supply was provided long before my request to receive it. All I needed was reason and authority to access it.

Now what do you think would have happened if I had just stood there looking at the empty space on the shelf? Nothing! I had to look "beyond the emptiness" to the one who could fill it with his supply.

Dear friend, do you have an smpty space in your life? Well let me assure you that God is ready to meet your need, within the scope of His will, no matter what it is - money, car, clothes, house, mate, job, health, strength, wisdom, guidance - and He already has the supply. All you have to do is "take inventory" and then file the "P.O.", a prayer order, with the Manufacturer, Who also happens to be the Owner of the company. Make your request as specific as possible and file it in the Name of Jesus, using His authority.

Once that request has been approved by the Father, then demonstrate your faith: prove that you believe He is answering by making perparation to receive. As Brother Manley Beasley used to say, "Act like it is so when it is not so, so it will be so"

Now, you may ask, "But how is God going to do this, who is He going to use, where can it come from?"  That is not your concern.  All of that is up to the Shipper. You just get ready to process, to use the shipment when it arrives.  I never did know exactly what shipping company the manufacturer would use and I did not always know the exact date of arrival. But I knew it was coming and I made sure I was prepared.

The moment I filed that P.O. I stsrted getting ready to receive. Why? Because in my mind it was already there. I could "see it" on the shelf. I had seen "beyond the emptiness."

Dear Child of God, stop looking at the empty place as empty. Look beyond the emptiness to God's inexhaustible supply.  It is just sitting there waiting for you to request it. Get on your knees right now and file your "prayer order" by faith. Be specific. Leave the details of shiping to the Sender and begin right now to prepare for its arrival.

You say, “Oh, but I have no money, no power, no influence, no authority.” That’s right, you don‘t – so use the Owners, use HIS. When you do you will find that the empty place is not as empty as it appears.

“We walk by faith, not by sight”.

(See also Shad's series here on "Hearing His Voice," and "Being On Time For God," under "Discipleship" at left.  Shad and Sheila Williams may be contacted at www.wegotothem@aol.com)

MASS EVANGELISM, ON A SHOESTRING

Every Christian is responsible for sharing Christ one-on-one.  But even if every single Christian did that (they don't), it still would not be enough to reach all of the six billion people alive today.  So people must also be reached in groups.  That means "mass evangelism."

Is there is a way to take the gospel to large groups at a time?  To people who would not be reached any other way?  There is.  It is "Field Evangelism." 

Field Evangelism can be done by churches and groups who cannot afford to put on large crusades.  For not much money and minimal equipment, a small team can "go to them" for a few days at a time.  They go to another country, to places where people are already gathered - markets, train and bus stations, schools, prisons, etc. 

Does it really work?  Going to them, where they are already gathered, rather than trying to gather them together for a meeting?  Better than almost anything else!

Just consider this.  Shad and Sheila Williams have been "going to them" in other countries for 29 years, some 149 times.  They go 5-6 times a year, for 7-20 days a trip.  They usually take no more than 4-6 volunteers with them - sometimes none.  A native pastor - one of their early converts - arranges their itinerary ahead of time and helps with the logistics.  Their financial supporters total fewer than 100 people. 

What happens when they get off the plane?  The local pastor who has made all the arrangements meets them.  Before long they drive up to a pre-selected gathering place, set up sound equipment and start putting on a musical show.  The crowd gathers around.  Someone preaches a brief evangelistic message - often one of the volunteers.  There is a translator.  People in the crowd raise their hands if they want to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Then they are instructed in how to grow in Christ, and directed to various churches.  Then it's on to the next place, several places, into the night, when the "Jesus" movie is shown somewhere.  After several packed days, it's back on the homeward-bound plane.

How has it worked out?

The results: in 29 years, over 5 million people have accepted Christ!  Five million!  That is around the size of the lifetime total conversions reached by mega-evangelists with huge budgets and staffs.  Why the difference?  The mega-evangelists go more to middle class people and some poor - mostly 1st and 2nd-world countries.  Shad and Sheila go to very poor, 3rd-world countries, or where struggling poor people are.  The cost per convert is around $1.50.  Imagine! 

Is there any better return on investment in the world?

Doea it last?  Yes!  Shad and Sheila have raised up many native pastors and many churches have been formed.  A seminary has been established in India and sends out many new pastors and evangelists from village to village.  African pastors get continuing training in Africa by Shad and by some of the more senior African pastors they have raised up there.  On each trip, surrounding churches are flooded by new converts from Shad and Sheila's evangelism.  It lasts!

Would your church like to help convert hundreds and thousands of people in other countries?  Or would a group in your church?  They can!

Would your seminary or Bible School be willing to explore and enable such "field evangelism?"  The faculty?  Students on their own?  Bringing about a lot more of it could be revolutionary.  It could seed an unprecedented surge of Christianity around the world.

For more information, go to www.wegotothem.com.  Shad and Sheila Williams train people all the time.  And since they are not getting any younger, you should hurry! 

There is never as much time as we think.  And most of 6 billion people are still waiting for you to get there.

NEVER 'DRESS UP' FOR CHURCH AGAIN

This morning I managed to catch the bus to get to church, just in time.  A little later I looked up from my reading and saw that I was on the wrong bus!  On time, but headed in the opposite direction. 

Oh, just great!  I had to get off and wait for another bus headed downtown, then catch a second bus.  I would be very late.  It was also a dangerous part of town to be stuck in, on foot.  Not good.   I was saying, "Lord, did you really think this through??"

Sure enough two seedy looking guys came along and sat down beside me.  Of course I ignored them.  Then one left.  I kept reading.  Finally I saw that the remaining guy was way down at the other end of the bench and respectfully looking away from me.  So I decided to talk to him.

Asking for help seemed a good way, so I asked him for the time.  He stood to get a watch out of his pocket, gave me the time, and apologized for the watchband being broken.  I told him what a good church I was on my way to, and he said he liked church.  He started telling me about growing up Baptist in Brady, a little town I know out in West Texas.  He was a shy man, just starting to get a little gray.

He grew up very poor, and could not dress well.  His mom made him a suit to wear to church out of flannel and corduroy.  But it didn't look like the suits the other kids wore, and they made fun of him.  The people in the church really dressed up in expensive clothes, with rings and watches.  "Like some kind of fashion show," he said.

When he got into his teens he would wear dark jeans, a white shirt and some cowboy boots to church.  He made sure the boots were always polished.  But one day in a Sunday School class, some boys - the same ones who had teased him about his clothes when they were all little - started pointing to a hole in his sole and laughing at him. 

After that he noticed that several of the older men in the church stopped wearing suits to church and would wear slacks and informal shirts.  He believed they did it just to put him at ease.  He really appreciated it.

When I invited him to go to church with me, he looked away, embarrassed.  His jeans and t-shirt were old, clean but a little tattered.  There was a faint smell of beer about him, not strong - probably from last night, not this morning, judging by how he looked.   I told him we dressed every which way at that particular church, but I think he was skeptical about that.  On the bus he sat at a good distance, never looked at me and was gone the next time I looked.

It really made me think.  About how, when I was growing up, church actually was like a fashion show.  About how that would make people feel who couldn't keep up with that.  Our family couldn't have kept up, except we sewed really well and managed to look at least OK without having much money.  But - is that what church is all about?  About competing as to who can display the most wealth?  About out-doing each other in fashion?  Even if it makes others feel ashamed about how they dress?

At my church, some of the older men and women still really dress up.  It is just how they grew up.  Some dress casually.  And some dress very casually.  The pastor wore a Hawaiian shirt this morning.  But then, so does Rick Warren, pastor of the famous Saddleback mega-church.

So this morning, I decided never to dress up to go to my church again.  I want everyone to feel welcome there.  And I want them to come.  As Christians, our mission in life is to help people come to Christ, then to become mature Christians.  For that, going to a church is important.

That man this morning seemed to want to go to church.  He might have really needed a church today too.  But I suspect that some of us who unthinkingly dressed better might have needed it even more!  Personally, I'm convicted.  We need to deliberately "dress down" more when we go to church.  God forbid that we would make anyone feel unwelcome in His church simply because of clothing.  It is a very small "sacrifice," when you think about it.

WHAT SKIES ARE FOR

                            (Image from kathyboast.com)

It takes 25 to 50 hours of maintenance time for every hour of flight time just to keep a powerful fighter jet in the air.  What does it take for a human being?

The human body is a marvel that we seldom stop to appreciate, a biological "machine" that we cannot manufacture.  With it, we have made a modern technology that equips even low-paid American workers with riches beyond those of the richest ancient Pharoah. 

We can use the human body for decades.  Yet without maintenance time, it breaks down, just like fighter jets.  And jet pilots too. 

Those of us who love work - especially those who love God's work, and those who work "for something greater than themselves" - are not excused from the need to maintain the body.  Neglecting self-maintenance, s