John Chau, Antagonistic Attacks, and Why We Persevere!

John Chau, Antagonistic Attacks, and Why We Persevere!

It was late Thanksgiving Day when I got the word that a young missionary, John Chau, was killed earlier that week.  John was attempting to make positive contact with a Stone Age indigenous tribe on North Sentinel Island in the jurisdiction of India. Reports from a local fisherman noted that the islanders had shot him with arrows in his final encounter with them.  While there are many aspects to this story, the one that surprised me the most was the enormous negative coverage the media and critics are giving Chau.

The mild attacks simply focused on a fear of Chau spreading diseases foreign to the indigenous people while the cruder referred to John as a criminal adventurer, full of prejudice, and even lambasted him as xenophobic.   One article even called him a villain and most attacked him as being arrogant and in dismay as to why he would feel a need to convert these people to his way of thinking about God. (more…)

Taking Jesus to the Cities!

Taking Jesus to the Cities!

SNDWhat does it look like to take Jesus to the cities of the 21st century?  Sunday Night Discussions is back this week and we’re asking that very question.  It is estimated that today over half the population of the earth lives in cities and outlying areas.  This change in global demographics also touches race, ethnicity, and religion.  How can the Kingdom of Heaven be advanced is this new world reality. Join Robert and me here Sunday at 8p central as we welcome Luke Greer who serves with Global Cities Initiative and the Orchard Group. Orchard has been planting churches since 1948 in New York and is now reaching out into the major cities of the world.How big of an issue is this and how can we be involved?  Feel free to send questions in early via here or our Google Plus page.  During the show questions and comments can be sent in via both mediums and we will be giving away a copy of Why Cities Matter by Stephen Um and Justin Buzzard toward the end of the show. Forward in the book is written by Timothy Keller.  So grab a friend and plan to participate as we kick off another season of SND.

BTW for the Dallas and NY Giants fans, we will have an audience member keeping us posted on the game score.

Yup . . . it’s going to be great!

When Faith turns to Fatigue.

Sometimes I just get tired.  If anything, the word journey better describes the walk with Christ more than a happy walk in the park.  It gets hard at times.  It gets fatiguing at times.  A marathon, or maybe a triathlon, is more descriptive of what authentic Christianity is like, rather than a Caribbean cruise.  Yes, I get tired sometimes.  It is tiring to continue to pray for years and not see the results my heart longs for.  It is just downright oppressive at times trying to calmly and lovingly speak toward Biblical righteousness in a culture that wholly embraces abortion, homosexual lifestyles, and philosophical relativity.  It gets disheartening to see more and more people who wear the name of Christ in Western Europe and America drop Biblical morality like a bad losing streak in favor of liberal cultural and political correctness.  (more…)