April 2008

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The April 2008 PNEUMA INFORMER 

 

In this issue

What's New at www.PneumaFoundation.org

     http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pi.jsp?pi=/2008/pi_04_2008.xml#N65545

     Update from Webmaster

     Recent Server Issues

     New Online Articles

     New Links and Content Worth Noticing

Reports from Around the World

     http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pi.jsp?pi=/2008/pi_04_2008.xml#N65637

     Bali: Village leader accepts Christ despite threats

     India: Unprecedented response to televised "Godman" film

     Myanmar: Miraculous Breakthrough

     Iran: New Draft Law Proposes Death Penalty for Apostasy

     Azerbaijan: A pastor is released from prison

     News and Headlines

     Report the News

Thoughts to Ponder

     http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pi.jsp?pi=/2008/pi_04_2008.xml#N65792

Resources You Can Use

     http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pi.jsp?pi=/2008/pi_04_2008.xml#N65908

    Church Planting Coach monthly newsletter

    Churches to Hold Web Focus Day April 27

     Free Church Website Tool Released

Upcoming Conferences

     http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pi.jsp?pi=/2008/pi_04_2008.xml#N65876

    Spirit and Scripture: A Symposium on Renewal Biblical Hermeneutics

    BLEND, Christians Against Racism

     Next Generation Hispanic Evangelical Gathering

Excerpts from THE PNEUMA REVIEW

    "The Empowered Christian Life" by J. I. Packer

        http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pi.jsp?pi=/2008/pi_04_2008.xml#N65973

    "Glocal Church Ministry" reviewed by Julie C. Ma

        http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pi.jsp?pi=/2008/pi_04_2008.xml#N65990

    Kingdom Triangle reviewed by W. Simpson

        http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pi.jsp?pi=/2008/pi_04_2008.xml#N66006

Prayer Requests

     http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pi.jsp?pi=/2008/pi_04_2008.xml#N66023

Praise Reports

     http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pi.jsp?pi=/2008/pi_04_2008.xml#N66110

Supporting the Ministry

     http://www.pneumafoundation.org/supporting.jsp

 
 

What's New at www.PneumaFoundation.org

Update from Webmaster

Dave Driggs, Pneuma Foundation "Web Servant," tell us about where we have come from and where we are headed.

Over the past 9 years the Pneuma Foundation website has utilized open source technology. Originally, we started with simple code that ran on the Apache server which was (and still is) the most popular web server on the internet.

In 2003, we moved the website to the Tomcat web server and started hosting the site "locally." Tomcat is a straight forward open source Java web server that allowed us to utilize Java server page technology. At this time we also introduced Struts 1.1 (a web frame work) and XML/XSLT for data transformation.

All of this software was built and deployed using Apache Ant. Ant is a tool that is useful, but tedious to maintain. We had several different scripts to deploy our code. In late 2007, we migrated our website build and deployment to Maven 2. Maven is the next generation build/deploy tool for Java applications. We no longer needed different scripts as we had previously. At the same time, the site software was upgraded to Tomcat 5.5 and Java 6.

Since being hosted locally in the home-offices of our volunteers, the Pneuma Foundation website has been published to Linux servers and is currently running on Fedora Core 7.

Technology changes planned for the future:

  • Integration with Struts 2 and Spring frameworks.
  • Add database functionality to several "index" pages.
  • Integrations with external resources via XML.
  • Style rewrite (this has been attempted about 4 times).

Anyone interested in more information about www.PneumaFoundation.org or the technologies it is using is welcome to write. Please use the "Contact Us" page at http://www.pneumafoundation.org/contactus.jsp

 

Recent Server Issues

Email Problems Lead to Better Solution
The Pneuma Foundation email server began experiencing some problems sometime the week of March 9, and was turned off permanently on Wednesday, March 19. While our backup mail service seems to have retained most of the email delivered to it since March 19, there may have been some lost mail. The Foundation is now using a different service to receive email, and this appears to be a superior solution for our volunteers. If you have not received a reply regarding any communication to us, we are sorry that we missed you. Please write again.

Planned outage
There was a planned downtime of the Pneuma Foundation webserver for an electrical system upgrade on March 31, 2008. There will be another maintenance period for an upgrade for the internet service provider, date and time to be announced.

New Online Articles

New Links and Content Worth Noticing

 
 
Reports from Around the World

Bali: Village leader accepts Christ despite threats
For the first time last year, Book of Hope showed the Godman film on the South Pacific island of Bali. This is a region with a long history of Hinduism. One village leader, Ladra, did not give permission for the film to be shown. But he did invite the Book of Hope team back in a few weeks. Ty Silva with Book of Hope reports: "This time Ladra had prepared a place for the GodMan to be shown. In fact, it was in a field right in front of his own house. They had the film showing, and the children and the people of the village were very excited. In fact, they filled the field and overflowed into the street." Afterward, Ladra gave his life to Christ, which angered other leaders. Threats came in, but the Hindu police promised protection. Still, Ladra was stripped of his leadership. Silva said, "Ladra gave a very similar response as Nicodemus. He said, 'If they turn against me for showing the story of a Man who taught so many wonderful things and did so much good, then let it be.'"
Source: Mission Network News, 24 January, 2008 Full story: http://mnn.gospelcom.net/article/10826

India: Unprecedented response to televised "Godman" film
While persecution increased over Christmas in India, an unprecedented event took place. Book of Hope International's "Godman," the 3D animated film on the life of Christ, debuted on national television. Book of Hope's Rob Hoskins says they've already received more than a half million letters. He says pre-planning was the key. "Before the broadcast even took place we had trained 203,632 volunteers. So far, we've had over 3,405,000 people that have watched the movie, and we've had literally hundreds of thousands of people who have accepted Christ." Hoskins believes this is just the beginning of an incredible move of God, and persecution will increase because of it. There is now an incredible demand for discipleship material. "... And so what we're needing to do is plant the Word of God and ensure that Scripture engagement takes place."
Source: Adapted from Mission Network News, 21 January, 2008. Full story: http://mnn.gospelcom.net/article/10810

Myanmar: Miraculous Breakthrough
4,700 Buddhist Monks Kneel to Accept Christ as their Savior.
For many years Christian Aid has been helping ministries in Myanmar [formerly Burma] and has witnessed many wonderful reports from missionaries laboring in this troubled land. But this latest startling report tells of 4,700 Buddhist monks who accepted Christ as their Savior.
This miracle came about amid a backdrop of more than a decade of political cruelty toward certain Burmese ethnic minorities. Over the years, 3000 villages in eastern Burma have been destroyed and the people were either killed or driven into remote mountainous areas. Some were able to escape to neighboring countries, although they were not particularly welcomed there.
For the full story, visit the Christian Aid report: http://www.christianaid.org/Missionaries/MIR/mir20080318.aspx
Source: Adapted from Missions Insider 9:3, March 18, 2008

Iran: New Draft Law Proposes Death Penalty for Apostasy
Voice of the Martyrs Canada reports that the Iranian Parliament is reviewing a bill that calls for the death penalty for apostasy. According to policy watchdogs, the draft law is clearly aimed at deterring conversion from Islam. Despite tremendous oppression in Iran, many are coming to Christ. Pray for strength, wisdom, and grace for Iranian Christians as they continue to spread the Gospel despite sustained pressure from the Islamic government of the nation.
Source: Mission Network News, 8 February, 2008. Full story: http://mnn.gospelcom.net/article/10881

Azerbaijan: A pastor is released from prison
There is good news coming out of Azerbaijan concerning imprisoned Baptist Pastor Zuer Balaev.
Slavic Gospel Association's Joel Griffith says he and more than 50 others were granted amnesty by the president. While Christians are thanking God for Balaev's releases, Griffith says that doesn't mean religious freedom is improving. "With any Baptist pastor, evangelical or non-Islamic religious group, they're probably going to be watched very closely. We know from officials over there that other pastors have been threatened with the same kind of treatment if they were to pursue their ministries or plant other congregations." Many foreign leaders petitioned for his release, including former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Regarding religious freedom, Griffith is hopeful. "Our hope is that the international outcry of the Balaev case will result somehow in the government loosening some of the strings. We're certainly hoping and praying that." Balaev was falsely arrested and convicted for assaulting state representatives last year.
Source: Mission Network News, 24 March, 2008 Full story: http://mnn.gospelcom.net/article/10826

News and Headlines
Visit links.jsp for Current News and Links

See other news to pray and praise God about in the Prayer Requests department below.

Report the News
We are looking for stories about what God is doing in the world, reports about the persecution of Christians, and information about significant trends and ministry opportunities. If you have a news item to report, please send an email to the PNEUMA INFORMER. http://www.pneumafoundation.org/contactus.jsp
 
 
Thoughts to Ponder

"The way of Jesus Christ, and therefore the way of all Christian thinking, leads not from the world to God but from God to the world. This means that the essence of the Gospel does not lie in the solution of human problems, and that the solution of human problems cannot be the essential task of the Church."
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer (quoted at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/aprilweb-only/114-32.0.html?start=2)

"When the Communists took over Russia in 1917, Lenin did not ban the Church, but forbade it to do any good works. Central elements of Christian ministry such as feeding the hungry, teaching and caring for the sick and orphaned were taboo for the Church. Seventy years later, the Church was completely irrelevant. Today, without Lenin, many churches still do exactly that, concentrating only on preaching, with identical results. Take service out of the church, and it becomes irrelevant and weak."
- Eric Swanson

"There are three images in my mind which I must continually forsake and replace by better ones: the false image of God, the false image of my neighbours, and the false image of myself."
- C. S. Lewis

"Christians are to be the good news before they share the Good News."
- Joe Alrich

"Why do folks allow their daughters to dress like an advertisement for something they are not selling? Why are they bringing them up to think that their worth as a human being rests in being someone else's object instead of someone's beloved person?"
- Source: Mary Walsh (Touchstone, Jul/Aug 2006)

"In these postChristian times, a major pastoral task is to explain Christianity to people who really have no idea what it means."
- Philip Graham Ryken (quoted in Preaching, Sep/Oct 2003, Vol 19, No 2, page 29)

"The strongest pressures we face to avoid Scripture's teachings are when those teachings run contrary to some popular and cherished cultural viewpoint. One only need consider the Bible's teaching on such 'controversial' issues as salvation that is found exclusively through faith in Christ, to realize that our temptation to compromise comes most forcefully where our culture finds biblical teaching repulsive."
- Bruce A. Ware (quoted in Moody, Mar/Apr 2003, page 37)

 
 
Upcoming Conferences
"Spirit and Scripture"
A Symposium on Renewal Biblical Hermeneutics
Where: Regent University School of Divinity
When: October 17 & 18, 2008

Pentecostal, Charismatic and renewal movements throughout the world share a common theological experience. However, several seminal questions about renewal biblical and theological studies have not been sufficiently treated for today. For example:

What is the role of the Holy Spirit in biblical hermeneutics?
What are the distinctive presuppositions, methods and goals of renewal biblical hermeneutics?

With the present growth of both renewal scholarship and the movement around the world, we believe that the time has come for a focused and concerted treatment of this topic. You are invited to a gathering of scholars to address this vital subject for biblical and theological studies in the 21st century.
For more information, visit: www.regent.edu/spiritscripture

 

BLEND, Christians Against Racism
Christian Leaders Call for an end to racist rhetoric in immigration debate
Where: Mercy Church in Laredo, Texas
When: May 4-5, 2008
Dr. Cindy Jacobs, President and Founder of Generals International, and Christian leaders from all major ethnic communities have issued a call for prayer to bring to God this pressing need for justice and an end to racism in the immigration debate. Jacobs says, "After visiting with some top Hispanic leaders and listening to their concern, the consensus is that this issue will never be settled through natural means. Only God knows what needs to be done for much needed reform. Together, we are going to appeal to the Creator of the universe to adjudicate a just solution to this grievous problem."
Dr. Jesse Miranda, Global Chairman of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, America's largest Hispanic Christian Organization, sees the event as prophetic and pivotal to changing the language of the debate. "For too long the extremist have hijacked the issue of immigration and made it a rallying cry for nativism and racism. We do have a legitimate immigration situation that requires our attention. However the debate must convert to a dialogue and reason must trump rhetoric," explained Miranda. "Racism is ultimately a spiritual problem and it is only right the church become involved in seeking reconciliation," he added.
Dr. Jacobs will be joined by prominent Evangelical leaders such as Bishop Harry Jackson, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, Rev. Mark Gonzalez, Dr. Alemu Beefetu, Herman Matir, Will Ford III and others.
For more information, visit: www.NHCLC.org National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference


 

Next Generation Hispanic Evangelical Gathering
Where: Jesse Miranda Center, Vanguard University, Costa Mesa, California
When: May 12-14, 2008
For more information, visit: www.NHCLC.org National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference

 
 

Resources You Can Use

Church Planting Coach monthly newsletter
Church Planting guru, George Patterson, and his co-workers answer pressing questions for those who mentor and coach shepherds of reproducing, new churches. See past issues at www.MentorNet.ws.
Source: Brigada Today 2008/02/01

Churches to Hold Web Focus Day April 27
"How can we use this new-fangled Internet thing to share the gospel?" Christians are asking. A worldwide "web evangelism focus day" is helping to provide answers. Sunday, April 27, has been designated as Internet Evangelism Day. Churches can download free materials from the Internet Evangelism Day website. These materials make it easy for churches to create a short presentation about online outreach on or near that Sunday. A PowerPoint, video clip testimonies, drama scripts, music and handouts can be used to create their own customized program lasting from one minute to 50.
Church leaders who have already used these materials are excited. "This is a huge help for small churches such as ours," writes a church leader from California.
The Internet Evangelism Day team emphasizes that web evangelism is for anyone, not just the technically gifted. "There are many ways to share your faith online, without any technical background at all," says IE Day Coordinator Tony Whittaker.
Christian leaders are also enthusiastic: "I am glad to commend Internet Evangelism Day," says Dr. John Stott.
Churches can start planning their focus day now. More information is available at www.InternetEvangelismDay.com
Source: Web Evangelism Bulletin February 2008 Bulletin Reminder Alert

Free Church Website Tool Released
The people behind Internet Evangelism Day also provide year-round resources about online outreach. The ministry explains many ways that Christians can share the good news, including through church websites. Churches often find it difficult to create a site that will engage with outsiders in their area, and find themselves asking, "How can our church website help us reach out into our community?"
A new online tool released by IE Day provides churches with a free 15-page evaluation report. Users assess their own website by answering 55 simple questions. Their customized report is immediately displayed online, ready to print or save. The report's recommendations are tailored with specific practical suggestions, based on the questions that were ticked. View the evaluation tool here:
http://ied.gospelcom.net/church-site-design.php
A church site which has been prioritized for non-Christian visitors can be remarkably effective in reaching the community. "Week in, week out, more visitors turn up at our church on a Sunday because of the website, than anything else," writes one growing church in London.
The tool also provides the parable 'A Tale of Two Golf Clubs' (which is available to republish) to illustrate the principles of effective church websites:
http://ied.gospelcom.net/golf-parable.php
Church leaders have welcomed this new resource. "This competent evaluation tool provides a valuable service to churches that will help them strengthen their effectiveness in outreach through the Internet," says Dr. Sterling Huston, director of North American Ministries for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Gary McClure of LifeWay Ministries agrees, saying, "This checklist is an invaluable tool to identify critical areas for improvement. Every church should study this regularly and act on it!"
For more information, visit www.InternetEvangelismDay.com
Source: Web Evangelism Bulletin February 2008 Bulletin Reminder Alert

 
 

Excerpts from THE PNEUMA REVIEW

THE PNEUMA REVIEW is a quarterly printed journal of ministry resources and theology for Pentecostal and charismatic ministries and leaders. For more information about THE PNEUMA REVIEW, and to learn how to subscribe, please visit: Introducing THE PNEUMA REVIEW. www.pneumafoundation.org/intro_pr.jsp

Buy THE PNEUMA REVIEW online at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000D8CY9
Write a review online for THE PNEUMA REVIEW!

For a full index of the contents of all Pneuma Review issues, visit: http://www.pneumafoundation.org/pr_archive.jsp.


From "The Empowered Christian Life" by J. I. Packer

From the Winter 2008 issue

It is clear from the New Testament that the power of God is meant to accompany the gospel, and to find expression through its messengers and in the lives of those to whom the message comes.

Each December, Time magazine produces a set of light-hearted comments on the previous year. At the end of 1987, the editors were isolating the most overworked word of the year, the one most ready for retirement. The word they chose was "power," as in "power lunch," or "power tie." I confess my mind ran to various uses of the word "power" in Christian circles that seemed similarly overwrought, and I agreed there was a strong case for retiring the word.

But then I thought again.

The Spirit In Action

During the past century, Christians have been very concerned about power. Have they been wrong to be concerned about it? Not altogether. In the middle and late 1800s, there was great concern to find "the path of power." The path of power meant one's ability to perform set tasks and overcome temptations. Was it wrong to seek the power of God for greater self-control and a richer practice of righteousness? Of course not. At the same time concern focused on being able, through the power of God, to impact others for God through preaching and witness. Was it right to be anxious lest one's witness should be powerless? Of course it was right.

More recently, Christians touched by that movement known variously as Pentecostalism, charismatic renewal, and the third wave, are finding, if they can, the ability to channel supernatural demonstrations of God's power in healings of all sorts: healings of the body, inner healing of the heart, exorcisms where there appears to be something demonic in a person's life. Is it wrong that Christians are concerned about these things? Though I see various pitfalls, I cannot find it in my heart to say this is wrong. In my New Testament I read a great deal about such manifestations of the power of God—understood simply as "powers of the coming age" (Heb. 6:5) or, in other words, the Holy Spirit in action.

Miracles of New Creation

The coming of Christ the Savior has meant the outpouring of the Spirit on the church and on the world. And the Holy Spirit comes with power. In the New Testament we see this power manifested in all the aforementioned modes: the ability to perform set tasks and overcome temptation, the ability to impact others through preaching and witness, and the ability to act as a channel for God's power in miracles, healings, and the like. Let us consider each of these three modes, in reverse order.

First, in the gospels, we encounter works of power in the physical realm, including miracles of nature and healings of all sorts. The scriptural phrase "signs and wonders" describes them.

These are, to use C.S. Lewis's apt phrase, "miracles of the new creation," in which the power of God that created the world works again to bring something out of nothing, that is, to cause an inexplicable state of affairs in terms of what was there before. Everyone knows you cannot get food for five thousand out of five loaves and two fishes, but Jesus did it. Everyone knows you cannot bring the dead back to life, but Jesus on three occasions brought the dead back to life.

To be sure, these three "raisings from the dead" were only resuscitations; in each case, the person died again a little further down the line. Jesus, however, rose from the dead never to die again. His resurrection is an even more remarkable miracle of new creation—indeed, the normative one: Christ is the first fruits, the beginning of the new creation of God, as the New Testament itself says.

Words of Power

One reads on in the New Testament and finds, second, that words of power in Christian communication are very much a part of the gospel story and of the story of the new church. Luke is particularly interested in the power of God, and there are several texts in Luke that are significant here.

In Luke 4:14 we read that, following the wilderness temptation, "Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit." This text introduces not only his works of power but also the words of power that came from his lips. Then, after his resurrection, Jesus told the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they were endued with "power from on high" for the ministry of worldwide evangelism to which he was committing them (see Luke 24:49).

At the beginning of Acts, Luke picks up the same theme. Jesus tells his followers, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Then later we read, "With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all." (Acts 4:33)

Empowered Preaching

Paul likewise has tremendous things to say about the power of God working through the gospel and through its messengers. "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" (1:16). At the end of the lengthy argument that makes up the book of Romans, and speaking of his own ministry, Paul says, "I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done—by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit" (Rom. 15:18-19).

And again, in his first letter to the Corinthians, "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor. 1:17-18).

"I knew what you wanted," Paul says in the opening chapters of 1 Corinthians, "and I was resolved not to give it to you. You wanted me to show off as a philosopher, with dazzling arguments, but I wouldn't do it. And so you thought me a fool." Rather, Paul says, "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power" (1 Cor. 2:4-5).

Transformed Lives

The New Testament speaks not only of God's power in the miraculous and in the communication of the gospel, but also, third, of God's power at work in us, enabling us to understand and to do what we otherwise could not.

In 1:17-19, Paul tells the Christians what he prays that God will give them, "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us [other translations say, "in us"] who believe."

It is not just power in the message. It is not just power through the messenger. It is power in and upon those who believe, making their life utterly different from what it was before. It is resurrection power—a matter of God raising with Christ those who have become willing to die with Christ. Clearly Paul is expecting tremendous changes in the lives of those who now belong to Christ.

Paul is talking about something radical, in the fullest sense of that word: something produces a total change. He is praying that through this marvelous inner transformation and enrichment the Ephesians will be utterly different from folk around them—utterly different, indeed, from what they have been so far.

. . .

__________

J. I. Packer, is a British-born Canadian Christian theologian. He currently serves as the Board of Governors' Professor of Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. He received a Ph.D. (Philosophy) from the University of Oxford, Oxford, England. As an Anglican theologian, Dr. Packer has played a major role in British and North American evangelicalism. He has written numerous books and scholarly articles, including the best-selling book, Knowing God.


Read the rest of this article in the Winter 2008 issue of THE PNEUMA REVIEW www.pneumafoundation.org/intro_pr.jsp

This chapter is from Gary S. Greig and Kevin N. Springer, eds., The Kingdom and the Power: Are Healing and the Spiritual Gifts Used by Jesus and the Early Church Meant for the Church Today? A Biblical Look at How to Bring the Gospel to the World with Power (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1993). Used with permission.

 


Periodical Review: "Glocal Church Ministry"

From the Winter 2008 issue

Mark Galli, interviewer, "Glocal Church Ministry: Bob Roberts has an idea that may change American congregations, if not the world" Christianity Today (July 2007), pages 42-46.

I have often thought of the concept of glocalzation and questioned myself, "In what ways does a local church become global?" On one hand, the local church does not participate in the reality of the global dimension of God's work: it is not a global church. On the other hand, the church with a global vision and scope should be deeply rooted in its local context. There should be a constant interaction between these two spheres of life: global and local. Any derivative ideas such as global leadership, global ministry, and global Christianity should have the same notion.

Roberts convincingly presents his contention that "a local church must be a global church." He particularly underscores the importance of laity and their talents and skills for global ministry. It is impressive that he and his church have planted over 100 congregations and undertaken impressive social work in various parts of the world. Equally astonishing is that he has mobilized laypeople of his church for global ministry. His reflection, therefore, is based on his experience, thus, field-tested. Many of his practical suggestions have to do with the proper handling of human and financial resources for global mission, and I found them extremely valuable.

He is a reflective practitioner wrestling with a serious fundamental question which every Christian should ask, "When will Jesus be enough for you?" He firmly believes it to be always so, if we have the Holy Spirit, His living Word, and His presence with us. As Paul admonishes in Philippians 4:4, he argues that we should rejoice in the Lord, and do so always. Then he moves to the action level with the following question, "What does it mean for Christ to be enough?" His response to this question has been global church planting.

Roberts' interpretation of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20) is noteworthy: "I want to win the whole world, but I will not win the whole world as an individual or even as a single church" (p. 2). His answer was a corporate concept of "togetherness." The clue was found in Acts 1:8: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." The strategy of the Lord for his disciples was to receive power (how) and start first in Jerusalem (where). Winning the whole world with the whole body of Christ starts within local community.

It is worth noting his view on transformation as the ultimate goal of Christian life: the transformation of "the community or a city somewhere in the world" (p. 3). Roberts well presents the purpose of planting church: not just make church grow in number but to exist for kingdom transformation. It is experientially evident that some Christians in this postmodern society are no different than secular people in their thoughts and way of living. Worse yet, we may be repeating the grave sin that Hosea (4:7) records, "the more the priests increased, the more they sinned against me...." We have more churches than ever before, we have more theological training schools and kingdom workers than ever before. Is our society transformed more than ever before? Finding the transformation formula is not quite hard: real transformation comes from God through power of the Holy Spirit. I am convinced that efforts of social concern are only a small part of real transformation. Foremost social transformation comes from God, because, when the Spirit works, a fundamental and internal change takes place, which continues on to external; hardly the other way around, unless social work deeply includes the living Word. Thus, it should be, "Come and hear the living Word," rather than "come and hear my preaching." Only then people will thirst no more, as experienced the Samaritan woman (John 4).

Roberts contends that churches should participate in the changing of the world by sending people. He points out that biblical teaching is to make disciples for kingdom expansion rather than resulting in church growth from converts. His thought is well aligned with Matthew 28:19. I understand his preference of "kingdom" to "mission." Often the word "mission" is not properly used by churches and even by missionaries. I feel that the meaning of this term must be biblically taught so that the churches and its agencies of mission will no longer do it as "business as usual." As Matthew 28:19 notes, "going" is mandatory in mission, followed by "baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" to ultimately "make disciples." This means that taking an action is essential to telling people what God's kingdom is all about and who the King is in this kingdom. Without going (mission) there is no way telling of the Kingdom of God.

I want to add my thought born out of my experience in regard with the involvement of laity. With their endless resources and willingness, the challenge is how to prepare and deploy them to their best potential. The particular aim is to make them "global people." When one fully understands the meaning of "being global," he or she will be working globally. Often the major problem is that they, like all of us, come with their local orientation. Unless this is brought to the global dimension, they will move from one local to another local setting. This produces the superimposition of one's culture and Christian orientation to another local setting. Moving from one local to another local setting does not make the person involved global. Unfortunately much of "global" mission, or kingdom work is from "local" to "local" under the name of "global." Therefore, it will be critical to prepare this hardly tapped mission resource in the lives of laity, not only with the "how to do's" of mission, but more importantly the global nature of their involvement. It is also necessary to orient them with soul-winning as the core and primary component of this global Christian transformation. If social transformation remains just as social development, how does this differ from social development projects undertaken by secular organizations? This may be what Roberts is fundamentally wrestling with.

Reviewed by Julie C. Ma

Notes

At the time of printing, this article was found online at: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/july/30.42.html

For further reading, Leadership journal published a Christian Vision Project interview with Bob Roberts: http://www.christianvisionproject.com/2007/01/we_arent_about_weekends.html

__________

Julie C. Ma is Research Tutor in Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, Oxford UK. She is the author of When the Spirit Meets the Spirits: Pentecostal Ministry among the Kankana-ey Tribe in the Philippines (Peter Lang, 2000) and Mission Possible: Biblical Strategies for Reaching the Lost (Regnum/Paternoster, 2005), and editor of Asian Church and God's Mission (2003) with her husband Wonsuk Ma. She now preparing her third book, Pentecostal Mission in Asian Context. Her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Intercultural Studies and Theology are from Fuller Theological Seminary.


Read more reviews and articles from the Winter 2008 issue of THE PNEUMA REVIEW www.pneumafoundation.org/intro_pr.jsp

 
 

Book Review: Kingdom Triangle

From the Spring 2008 issue

J. P. Moreland, Kingdom Triangle: Recover the Christian Mind, Renovate the Soul, Restore the Spirit's Power (Zondervan, 2007), 237 pages, ISBN 9780310274322.

I want to foment a revolution in Evangelical life... My purpose is to mobilize, inspire, envision, and instruct an army of men and women for a revolution on behalf of the cause of Christ.

If I could pick out for you a few of the most formative books in my own intellectual development, as a believing Christian, J.P. Moreland's Love Your God with All Your Mind would be jostling at the top. I wish I could thrust a copy of it into the hands of every Christian student, pastor and teacher. I can at least commend it to you as essential reading—after C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity, of course. But before you read either, I believe you should read Kingdom Triangle. And I think if you do read it carefully, cover to cover, you might just forgive me for putting J.P before Jack.[1]

Kingdom Triangle is a biblically grounded vision of Christian discipleship, uniting J.P Moreland's concern for the Christian mind with his pursuit of the spiritual disciplines, and calling for the whole Church to rediscover the power of the Holy Spirit. Taking the parts in isolation, it doesn't appear to be saying anything radically 'new'. As Moreland himself admits, the first point of the triangle will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with his writings; J.P is well-known among evangelicals as a philosopher and apologist, and Love Your God with All Your Mind was but one incarnation of his characteristic emphasis on a more tough-minded Christianity. It is a concern shared by many writers besides J.P. The 'spiritual disciplines' also have a well-established literary corpus and a number of contemporary advocates. And the charismatic stress on the manifest power of the Spirit is something many of the readers of this article probably share. What is rather unusual—and exciting—is to see all three of these emphases united together, without one being played off against the other.[2]

The first part of the book is decidedly philosophical. J.P offers us a penetrating expose of the cultural milieu of the West. In the discussion that follows, Moreland identifies naturalism, postmodernism, and Christian theism as the three major worldviews vying for our allegiance, and concerns himself with expounding both naturalism and postmodernism in some detail. Both are exposed as pervasive, pernicious, false—but also dangerously 'thin' worldviews, lacking the resources to ground objective value, purpose and meaning, and ultimately destructive of the good life, plunging us into a shallow and sensate culture. 'Under the influence of naturalist and postmodern ideas, many people no longer believe that there is any ultimate meaning to life that can be known. These folks—and they are legion—have given up on seeking that meaning and instead are living for happiness. Today, the good life is a life of happiness'. And the drive for happiness - construed as 'pleasurable satisfaction'—has produced a culture of 'empty selves'.

J.P however believes 'we are wired for more than happiness. We are made to live for God's honour by learning how to become spiritually competent, mature members of his Kingdom and to make that Kingdom our primary concern'. Claiming the supremacy of the Christian worldview, Moreland exhorts believers to recognise the superior spiritual and intellectual resources available to them in Christ, and to start taking their faith seriously, heart and mind. 'We were made for greatness', he argues, but our present culture 'undermines both its intelligibility and achievement'. 'The only way we are going to move from our boring lives to lives filled with the drama of the Greatest story is for those who embrace mere Christianity to set aside the shallowness of their thought and the weakness of their spiritual practices, and corporately to enter afresh into the Kingdom forms of life and thought worthy of the name of Christ'.

To this end, J.P, seeks to raise awareness about some major 'paradigm shifts' in the thinking of Western society—shifts that have 'greased the skids from a thick world to a thin one'. The first Moreland discusses is the demotion of religious knowledge to the deliverances of a non-rational 'faith'. It is commonly believed today that religion 'is not a domain of fact' in which one can acquire knowledge, or become expert. Unfortunately Christians, to some extent, have allowed themselves to be coloured by this perspective. J.P objects, for instance, to talk about 'the integration of faith and learning'—as if the insights gathered from Chemistry or Physics, say, were 'learning', and the insights gathered from Scripture and Christian theology were 'faith'. 'Christians must stop talking about "belief" in life after death, heaven and hell', he urges, 'and must reexpress their views on these and related matters as expression of knowledge of reality'. A second shift J.P identifies is the downgrading of the good life as a life of human flourishing, 'constituted by intellectual and moral virtue', to simply the satisfaction of desire. As it was formerly understood, happiness was 'a life of virtue' and 'the successful person was the person who knew how to live a life well according to what we are by nature because of the creative design of God'. It involved 'suffering, endurance and patience because these are important means to becoming a good person who lives the good life'. All of this, of course, presupposed 'the availability of the moral and spiritual knowledge needed to grasp the nature of human flourishing and the journey required to achieve it'. The first two shifts are connected, then. And so are the remaining three. 'Loss of moral knowledge' has brought about a third 'shift from a view of the moral life in which duty and virtue are central to a minimalist ethical perspective', a fourth shift from a 'classical' conception of freedom as 'the power to do what one ought to do' to freedom construed as 'the right to do what one wants to do', and a fifth shift to a new understanding of 'tolerance' that is pluralist in nature and 'fosters moral relativism'. All five of these moves are the concomitants of a more substantive shift away from a Judeo-Christian worldview to a naturalist and postmodern one, proliferating a culture of 'empty selves' and producing the Zeitgeist that is 'killing our lives, our religious fervour, and our relationships'.

The second part of the book seeks to redress the problem, presenting the Kingdom Triangle—and you will have to read the book to get the details! Moreland's discussion of the 'recovery of knowledge' (the first prong of his tripartite vision for the Christian Church) is another philosophically meaty section for the reader to master, discussing the problem of philosophical scepticism, defining knowledge and faith, confronting popular misconceptions in these areas, and laying out a plan for strengthening them both. 'Appropriate faith', Moreland explains, 'is grounded in knowledge and it is as good as its object... It is on the basis of knowledge... that one is able to exhibit the confidence in the respective object or possess a readiness to act as if the relevant proposition is true'. Among other pieces of advice, Moreland urges believers to 'be ruthless in assessing the precise nature and strength of what you actually believe and develop a specific plan of attack for improvement'.

His chapter on 'the renovation of the soul' draws on the insights of writers like Dallas Willard, Richard Foster and Henri Nouwen. Diagnosing four traits of 'the empty self', J.P. offers an expose on 'the art of Christian self-denial', carefully tracing out the relevant concepts and seeking to acquaint the reader with some of the 'disciplines of abstinence' and 'engagement' that disciples can purposefully employ to target areas of their lives where 'sinful habits' are residing. But Moreland is keen to emphasise that spiritual development is not something we should do solo—and goes so far as to strongly endorse the use of trained Christian therapists, counsellors and spiritual directors at the local Church. As ever, J.P.'s emphasis on knowledge undergirds the discussion. If you find parts of this chapter a little surprising (as I admit that I did), maybe it is worth asking yourself whether it has something to do with the fog of our contemporary Zeitgeist. Perhaps we expected spiritual development to be something rather vague and cloudy. J.P's ideas about it, however, are rather more precise. Our culture is individualistic, infantile, narcissistic and passive—and if we are to escape the shadow of the empty self there are things we must do (corporately and individually) to foster authentic Christian spiritual formation.

Finally, Moreland fixes his attention upon the charismatic dimension of the Christian faith (and probably loses a few friends in the process!). Relating his own experience of divine healing, and pointing the reader to the current revival in the Third World, which has been 'intimately connected to signs and wonders', J.P (now affiliated with a 'Third Wave' church) suggests that 'Western Christians have absorbed more of a secular worldview than we may like to admit', and contends that cessationism is neither supported by Scripture or by the evidence. But he is anxious to affirm the emphasis on Scripture and theology often fostered in cessationist Churches, and unwilling to blindly endorse the charismatic end of the spectrum. Whilst praising Pentecostals and charismatics for bringing 'healing, deliverance and the prophetic back to the Evangelical community', he complains that, all too often, 'you are too anti-intellectual', too 'addicted to seeking experiences', too little concerned with 'Christian counselling, the life of the mind, study, memorising Scripture'. Among other advice for becoming more 'naturally supernatural', Moreland urges Christian to gain real knowledge in this area of ministry, and to build our faith through 'study, meditation, risk, learning from successes and failures, and in related ways'. Learning to live and use the Spirit's power, as well as cultivating the inner life of the soul, and the development of the mind, are 'central to Jesus' ministry in the Gospels, in Acts, and in the first four centuries of the church'. J.P 'refuse[s] to believe it has to be an either/or'.

Kingdom Triangle is a book is for both the heart and the mind, the fruit of many years of thoughtful ministry, apologetic engagement and philosophical reflection, articulated with passion and erudition. It is not always easy reading. But then, why should it be? We have been lazy and simple for too long. If we are really going to exemplify the mind and character and power of Jesus Christ, enter the Kingdom Triangle and take our place in the Grand Drama—where the stakes are so high, and the rewards are eternal—it will demand our best efforts. But that's what we were created for.

Reviewed by W. Simpson

Notes

[1] "Jack" was C.S. Lewis's nickname.
[2] I also think it's heartening to see an intellectual of J.P's calibre coming down firmly in support of 'the supernatural' in contemporary Christianity —though not without aiming a few well-placed (but friendly) criticisms of charismatic excesses.

__________

W. Simpson is a student at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, and is currently studying for an MPhys. in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics. He is also a lay-reader in philosophy and theology, and has assisted the Pneuma Foundation with numerous online projects.


Read more reviews and articles from the Spring 2008 issue of THE PNEUMA REVIEW www.pneumafoundation.org/intro_pr.jsp

 
 

Prayer Requests

  • Growing religious oppression in Central Asia. Christians are experiencing growing persecution in the predominantly Muslim Central Asian countries. The changing religious legislation is bringing more restrictions on missionary activities and church worship. Police raid the churches, detaining and interrogating believers, confiscating Christian literature and arresting and fining church leaders. Despite this, the number of Christians is constantly growing. Christian lawyers faithfully defend the believers' rights under the threat of being persecuted themselves. Please pray that God will protect and empower Central Asian believers, their leaders and advocates, and that he will move powerfully amongst their oppressors and the authorities.
    Source: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin - RLP 460 | Central Asia: Growing Religious Oppression
  • Philippines: Christian worker killed, security forces readied. Armed soldiers in Mindanao in the Philippines are posted near churches to protect Christian missionaries. According to the government and published news outlets, this comes after a Christian worker was murdered by a known terrorist group - Abu Sayyef - an Islamic extremist group. Kidnap-for-ransom activities still take place in the region. Others in the area have received threats in the past. However, at this time, Christian workers plan to stay there to be agents of peace and hope.
    Source: Mission Network News, 28 January, 2008. Full story: http://mnn.gospelcom.net/article/10835
  • Pastor M. Rathna writes: "I want to buy a Digital projector and I will go to some of the villages and will show the films of Jesus Christ for weekly 2 times that the people will divert their minds and come near to Jesus Christ. Please pray for me that God will do this. I am waiting for so many days for this one, the digital projector will cost approximately Rs.46, 000/- and the other equipments Rs. 14,000/- (Screen and boxes etc.). I hope God will give to me and I have hope and trust. I will do the service of my restless life for the people who don't know about Jesus Christ." Reference Number: 90031787

  • Uzbekistan: Hot Winter for Christians. Predominantly Muslim Uzbekistan is a persecution hotspot for its Protestant Christians and other religious minorities. The Uzbek authorities' continuing restrictions are aimed at keeping Christians living in constant fear and stopping internal outreach.
    Any religious activity not held on the premises of a registered religious organization is 'illegal'. Thus it is even harder for religious groups who are unable to get registered as all their activities are strictly suppressed as illegal and the participants treated as criminals. Police regularly raid church services, Christian literature is destroyed and believers are fined and even imprisoned. Church buildings are being confiscated. Even more restrictive laws are expected soon. However the solidarity of Protestant churches is growing under persecution. Please pray that God will strengthen and protect Christians in Uzbekistan.
    Source: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin - RLP 462 | Uzbekistan: Hot Winter for Christians
  • "Thank you very much for responding to my mail and suggesting that I send you people my prayer request which I am very delighted to do.
    "Like Solomon, after he had realized that the task his father left with him, was so enormous beyond his reasoning and might, when he was giving an opportunity from God to choose what he wanted Him to do for him, swiftly requested wisdom from God to rule his people.
    "Brethren this nation has gone through much pain as a result of the just ended war, almost all of those we have in our congregation are traumatized, poverty stricken, anxious, revengeful etc. So I am requesting that you pray for me that the Lord should bless me with wisdom and understanding to deal faithfully with these categories of people in my congregation, community, and the nation at large in Jesus name.
    "Also brethren, I humbly request that you pray for an increase of God's anointing, blessings, and power to breakthrough the barriers of false religion that is fast erupting as a result of the increase of poverty of lives in the nation. They are taken an advantage of the situations of the people and bringing in relief in exchange for their belief and commitment. So people are accepting their false messages and gifts. But if there is an increase of God's anointing, and blessings, we will conquer by his grace.
    "Lastly for the sake of the expensive nature of commercial internet facilities, there is a dark political cloud over our nation; we want you people to pray that the Lord break, and disperse every political dark cloud hovering over this nation in Jesus name.
    "Thank God for the internet. Every good thing is seriously under satanic attack that is why the devil is raising dishonest people to break the hearts of people through this God-given medium.
    But I am sensitive that Lord is uniting his people all over the world through this medium. So brethren, keep up the good work."
    Pastor Andrew. Reference Number: 90031091

  • Chad: Islamic Jihadist Coup Poses Major Threat. While rebels attacked the Chadian capital N'Djamena on 2 February their clean-shaven, suit-wearing spokesman was telling Aljazeera TV that this was a domestic uprising against dictatorship and corruption. However the truth is this rebellion is being sponsored by Sudan and Saudi Arabia to effect regime change in Chad and install a pro-Arab, Wahhabi regime loyal to Khartoum (Sudan). The coup has forced the postponement of sending a 3700-strong UN- sponsored, EU humanitarian force to Chad and Central African Republic to protect Darfurian refugees. Chad is 55 percent Muslim and 28 percent Christian. If this plot succeeds it will be a major coup for Sudan, Wahhabi Islam and Arabism and it would doubtless herald an era of unprecedented persecution for the Church in Chad.
    Source: World Evangelical Alliance - RLP 464 | Chad: Islamic Jihadist Coup Poses Major Threat
  • Cuba: Former prisoner in Cuba responds to Castro's resignation. For the first time in 49 years, Fidel Castro is no longer the President of Cuba. He resigned on February 19.
    Voice of the Martyrs' USA Director Tom White was imprisoned for 17 months in Cuba after the plane from which he was dropping Christian tracts crash-landed there. He doesn't believe Castro's resignation will inspire a revolution because of the influence of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. "Chavez has unlimited fiscal resources to aid the Cuban government. When the Russians pulled out of Cuba, Castro was furious because he lost between 17 to 21 million dollars a day. Now, their 'sugar daddy' is Chavez." While communism isn't expected to end, White believes Christians will be relatively safe. "Cubans noticed how the Romanian revolution was begun by a Lutheran priest, and it really shook them up, and they pulled way back. In my opinion it would cause a total revolution on the entire island." The church is growing fast. Pray that believers will be even more bold.
    Source: Mission Network News, 20 February, 2008 Full story: http://mnn.gospelcom.net/article/10923
  • Pastor Abraham wrote on February 18, 2008, from Colombo, Sri Lanka: "I bring a very urgent prayer request for you to pray. As I informed you earlier our country situation has gone from bad to worse. Now it has turned against the Christian Pastors. Last week the police arrested six pastors and they are in prison now. Secondly, there is a pastor called Neel E. who was serving the Lord in a very strong Buddhist area called Ampara (more than 350km from Colombo and our Pastor R. is also working in this area), who was killed yesterday (Sunday, Feb 17) night by some gunmen. They enter in to the church and shot the Pastor and his wife and their year-and-a-half old child.
    "Pastor Neel died one the spot and his wife is in very serious condition, admitted to intensive care. But by the grace of God, the child was not wounded but only unconscious due to the incident. Please pray for Mrs. Neel E. and her child for their recovery. Pastor Neel was fasting and praying for 40 days and yesterday was the 40th day for his fasting." (Reference Number: 90031445)
    And a related story from the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin, No. 469:
    Anti-Christian violence suddenly escalates in Sri-Lanka Ethnic and religious tensions have grown again in Sri Lanka over the past two years as hostilities between Tamil separatists and the Sinhalese-dominated government have escalated. The Church bridges the Tamil-Sinhalese divide and is therefore targeted by extremist militants from both sides. The war, which officially resumed mid- January 2008, gives Buddhist nationalists a perfect opportunity to attack the Church under the cover of the prevailing chaos, and even blame the Tamil separatists. Christians have been the targets of several appallingly violent attacks in recent weeks. In Ampara on 17 February, Pastor Neil Edirisinghe (37) was fatally shot in a contract killing, while his wife Shiromi (31) was critically wounded. Please pray for peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.
 
 

Praise Reports

  • Eritrea: Christians released from prison. Christians are praising God for answered prayer. Authorities in Eritrea released 35 evangelical Christians after holding them in custody for six weeks at a local police station. Compass Direct reports that 35 men and women had been worshiping in a private home on January 6 when the house was raided. The group was denied visitation rights while there. Official charges were never filed. Many believers are still in prison. Pray that believers will be bold and that many will come to Christ despite the persecution.
    Source: Mission Network News, 26 February, 2008. Full story: http://mnn.gospelcom.net/article/10942
 
 

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