What is your Worldview?

Worldview is the way we look at the world.  That is, the glasses we are looking through; our perspective of the world.

Worldview is not the view from the space shuttle!  Very few people get to have that view, but everyone does have a worldview, whether they are aware of it or not.

"Worldview" is defined by Merriam-Webster as

a comprehensive conception or apprehension of the world especially from a specific standpoint.

So basically, worldview is a set of beliefs and relative positions from which a person analyses the world around him or herself.

There are many worldviews, and they are developed from a person's life experience, during which there are many influences.  Influences may include childhood and upbringing, education, life experiences and belief systems.

Christians have a specific worldview based on the bible and its teachings.   It's generally referred to as a "biblical worldview" as it shapes the way we look at life around us and it helps us understand why and how things occur. 

In Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis' chapter XXVII on the Historical Point of View, Uncle Screwtape writes about misleading Christians by leading them away from the question of truth.   He expands on many interesting categories to investigate (writer, comparisons, peers) and anything to steer the reader away from the truth itself.  

It's amazing how relevant Screwtape's theory is for the 21st Century.   We are in an age where it is considered politically incorrect to speak the truth; it is displaying intolerance to speak the truth; bad is the new good.   Our society considers it worse to confront sin than to commit sin.

English author George Orwell, socialist and writer of the famous 1984 and Animal Farm (and other futuristic and imaginative) novels, made the profound statement,

The further society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.

Ironic isn't it really, when 2000 years ago, Jesus had already told His disciples,

All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.  Mark 13:13

and Paul said,

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  2 Timothy 4:3

Christians, analyse world and local events in light of the bible, the Word of God.   Continue to speak the truth.  Stand firm.

Stand firm.

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.  1 Cor. 16:13

So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth, or by letter.  2 Thess. 2:15

Be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near.  James 5:8

References:

“Worldview.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/worldview. Accessed 20 December 2019.

Photo:

https://onsizzle.com/i/the-further-a-society-drifts-from-truth-the-more-it-4241068 (20/12/19) 

Are you Listening?

Are you listening to the Holy Spirit?

How often have you heard that God has a wonderful plan for your life, and when you become a Christian everything will be right and good, and life will be just dandy?!  Yeah, right!   That might be the case if we walked in perfect harmony with God, but our fallen nature makes this a challenge.  It's not God's part that fails (in fact that's not even possible), but us.  Me.  What to do?

Ray Comfort even wrote a whole book on that very concept and called it, "God has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life" which is an interesting read.  But this blog is not about Ray's book, and it's not a book review today.  So here's a link if you want to read it (I'd recommend it)*:   http://store.livingwaters.com/god-has-a-wonderful-plan-for-your-life-free.html

As individual Christian believers, we each wonder how to discern the Holy Spirit in our lives, and this is a healthy question to ask, not once, not occasionally, but continually throughout our lives.

It's also a fact that we are weak in our spirits, except for the power of God which makes us strong and steadfast, so our nearness to the Holy Spirit fluctuates from time to time.   How can we focus on making those peaks and troughs in our spiritual lives more level?  I've been thinking about this, and the following 5 aspects of relating to the Holy Spirit have helped me to solve this problem.  Maybe it will help you too.  (I'm not saying that I've got it all perfect and I don't fluctuate in my relationship with the Holy Spirit - far from it; but this at least helps me to focus on it!)

It is a sound biblical principle that we must rely on God's power:

But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. " Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.   2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV

1. Listen for Him

There are even 3 ways to read this sentence.  Watch the emphasis which I have capitalised: 
LISTEN for Him - the emphasis is on listening.  (That is, your activity.)
Listen FOR Him - with the emphasis on for.  (The focus is on what you're doing it for).
Listen for HIM - emphasising on whom you are focused (ie. the Holy Spirit).

We live in a noisy world.  There are many competing voices which we need to filter!   Some of these are natural sounds (like birdsongs, the breeze in the trees, footsteps, breathing, and heartbeats), man-made sounds (like traffic, appliances, activities, television, mobile phones and industry).   Then there's marketing!   How many times do you need to be told that the "Burgers are better at "..., or "... because you're worth it" (seriously??) But there are also spiritual voices competing with the Holy Spirit. 

Active listening is a good skill to apply here, but how do you apply active listening to the Holy Spirit's voice?   Remembering that conversing with God is somewhat similar to conversing with each other, so it's a two-way conversation. Check back with God with questions like, "Is this your voice, Lord?", or "Am I hearing you speaking to me in this?" or, "Am I being distracted?"  But we are jumping ahead.  For starters, have a listening attitude.



2. Hear His voice

You will only hear the Holy Spirit consistent with His Word, the Bible.  So develop a good bible-reading and prayer habit.

Only once you are reading the bible expectantly, and listening for Him are you likely to hear His voice.  But hearing isn't listening!

3. Recognise His voice

You've been listening for Him, and you've heard Him, now to recognise Him!

You will recognise His voice because the Holy Spirit's voice will always align with scripture.   There is no extrabiblical revelation these days, so anything that is contrary to, conflicting with or extraneous to biblical teaching is not the Holy Spirit!

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son..."  Heb. 1:1-2a

4. Listen to Him

Listening to someone is different to listening for someone.    Listening to someone is also different to simply hearing them.

Listening to the Holy Spirit means listening to what He says, absorbing it, remembering it, and meditating on it.   This should be a fundamental part of a daily quiet time - praying, reading the bible, listening and meditating on what has been read and heard.


5. Obey Him

The Holy Spirit indwells all believers, so it is important to obey Him and live as God demands.  Failing to obey has consequences - not losing God's indwelling presence, but grieving Him. 

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Ephesians 4:30

fulfilled in Acts 2 before the church was scattered to reach the whole world with the Good News of Jesus.

It's not like in Old Testament days when the Holy Spirit temporarily visited and empowered or inspired people.   Even David, a very Godly man and God's chosen leader of Israel, recognised the fact that he was not permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit when he prayed after grieving God through his personal sin,

Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

So there's an act of obedience required from each believer after listening for the Holy Spirit's voice, hearing His voice, recognising His voice, and listening to what He says!

...but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; 
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. 
Acts 1:8

Notes:
* Sorry about the lowercase G for God - it's the actual address set by the publisher, so if I change it the link won't work
Image from https://images.app.goo.gl/35X1e1GaqBqSRv2g6

Thoughts on Cross Cultural Mission

My Uncle is a Papua New Guinean National.   His Dad was the village chief.  My Uncle was trained to succeed as village chief too.  His firstborn son, my cousin, was destined to become the village chief one day.   They lived deep in the PNG highlands in a small village as warriors.  They had no clocks, no technology and no birth certificates.  They hunted pigs, bush fowl and deer, ate root vegetables and cooked in underground ovens called mumus.   They are tough men.   They lived in a dark spiritual world, but one day, a Western Christian Missionary told my Uncle about Jesus, and he believed.

His cousin believed too, and he was called to be an evangelist.   He walked over the mountains and highlands of PNG to spread the good news,  and he would often walk 2 days to preach and teach at remote villages.  Effectively, he took the mantle of local evangelism responsibility from the western missionary.

When I did my pilot training, I was fortunate to train with the first PNG national flight instructor who was planning to take the gospel to the far parts of Papua New Guinea by training more bush and mountain pilots in his own country, language and culture.

In Acts 1:8, we read Jesus words dispatching the church to reach the world as His witnesses:

"... and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

I have not focused on the start of the verse, although that too is relevant to our mission - here I want to focus on the context of Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the "ends of the earth" parts of His statement.

It's great to ask questions of the text!   Why did Jesus jump from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria, and why did He then jump straight to "the ends of the earth."?   There are a lot of places between Samaria and the ends of the earth that he could have mentioned!

There is a specific relevance in the order of place names that Jesus mentioned:  His disciples were familiar with Jerusalem.  It was their native habitat; they were comfortable there; they knew the language and the customs.   They had to cross a cultural boundary to enter Judea and Samaria though.   Notice that "Judea and Samaria" are grouped together as one.  Google it:  it's still grouped together 2000 years later as the "Judea and Samaria Region"!   The Samaritans were not liked by the Jews - the Jews looked down on them due to historical differences, and the Samaritans despised the Jews and their religion.   It was hostile.  Things were different in Judea and Samaria, but Jesus was sending His new church in that direction to be His witness!

"The ends of the earth" refers to places further away - this involved crossing into a new culture and a new language or languages.   It was two steps removed from Jerusalem:  culture and language.   How uncomfortable the disciples must have felt - and here's where the start of verse 8 becomes so relevant:

"but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses ..."

The church was not going in its own power.  The Holy Spirit provided and still provides the power for the church to go!

This brings me to my musings, and my purpose for this blog.  What happens when the sending culture doesn't fit in to the receiving culture?  What happens when the receiving culture doesn't see the sincerity of the missionary for various reasons, even though the missionary is very sincere?

In his book, "Revolution in World Missions", Dr. K.P Yohannan discusses the conflict between cultures, and the best way for the Western Church to help spread the Good News in a cross-cultural context.  Although he spends several chapters discussing this issue, one striking comment he makes is this:

"Have Asians rejected Christ?  Not really.  In most cases they have rejected only the trappings of Western culture that have fastened themselves onto the Good News."

Yohannan emphasises the great work of national workers (that is, Christians who have been called by God to minister in their own or nearby cultures) and how there are better ways in current times of church history for the Western Church to support them than actually trying to do the face-to-face evangelism.



If you've never watched this famous 6-minute video clip from New Tribes Mission (Ethnos360), entitled "Each Stick Had a Name", a story about Papua New Guinea Nationals, please follow this link.

But be warned, it may change your view of cross-cultural mission and unreached people groups. 

It's not a modern video, and it's not high-resolution, but the Message of the Good News of Jesus is timeless.




"... we don't have enough people."   But God does. 

How will you support cross-cultural mission?


References:
Photo 1: PNG PTA, https://www.papuanewguinea.travel/about-pngtpa, 16/10/2019
Ethnos360 videos  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiaWpULoxSAyuuUl2KBw9Kw 16/10/2019
Photo 2:  Each Stick Had a Name, Ethnos360, https://youtu.be/0K7CNF4ywDY, 16/10/2019
Revolution in World Missions, Dr. K.P Yohannan, 16/10/2019.  Download a free ebook here:  gfaau.org/freebook

Accountable App

One of Toward the Goal's most referenced blogs is Operation Timothy, posted in June 2016.   It's a great discipleship resource by CBMC under their Marketplace Ambassador Advancement System.

Now CBMC has released the Accountable App for smartphones.   It's a pretty nifty app which links with the Marketplace Ambassador App and makes spiritual growth accountability easier.

The application allows you to create categories and then manage the level and method of accountability, either personally or between accountability partners.  In the context of 2 Timothy 2:2 and Operation Timothy, accountabilities can also be shared on the smartphone app between your "Paul" and "Timothy".

The application allows multiple categories, each with individual entries, start date, reminders on or off, reminder time, specific days per week, and repeats.

It also allows tracking of your accountabilities with nice clean graphic displays.

The application is available on the Apple Store and Google Play and is a good addition to a spiritual growth toolkit.

What I'm Reading: Reaching the Unreached - Becoming Raiders of the Lost Art

Recently, I've been reading Reaching the Unreached - Becoming Raiders of the Lost Art by Peyton Jones.  It's a very practical book.

... and it also has a long title that I'm going to shorten for this blog to "Raiders of the Lost Art"!

The slogan on Jones' website, https://peytonjones.ninja/, pretty much says it all:  

Reaching the Unreached by Training 1st Century Style Church Planters

But isn't that elementary, Dear Watson?   Aren't we all about reaching the unreached by training 1st century church planters?  Apparently not.  Look around you.   Where do you see church plants?  If you are fortunate enough to live in a church planting community, are you faithful to 1st century principles, or are your church plants simply a replication of the mother church 10 am Sunday worship service?

Peyton Jones addresses this and other contemporary problems in Raiders of the Lost Art.  He says,

You'd think ministers planting a church would be able to strip it back to the essentials, but it's at this level that I often see how we're tempted to reproduce newer versions of what's not working.

If our goal was to become a giant, then we may have reached our goal, at the cost of being a sleeping one.  So the sleeping giant slumbers on ... and dreams about how awesome it is.

Our lack of action within the walls of the church is due to how we've set church up to run like a spectator sport instead of a contact sport.

Many churches are still prepping themselves for the future that isn't coming.  Our strategies rely upon utilizing tomorrow the buildings we've built today. 

Jones has a unique and relaxed writing style, using contemporary words, phrases and concepts to explain and reinforce timeless biblical principles (as demonstrated in the title and cover of this book!)

He reminds us of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous words,

If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century.

Well, we are now in the 21st century, and are things improving?  Is your local church just an irrelevant social club?  Or does it have contemporary cultural relevance in light of timeless biblical truths?

I like the way that, like Jesus, Jones pulls no punches.  In his section titled, "The Art of Moving Christians Around", He says,

Marketing and attracting crowds of Christians from other churches is what leaders fall back on when they don't have the nerve to hit the front lines and actually reach lost people.

Jones points out that those on the fringe (my words) can discern that a Sunday morning show is not sincere and they ("the seekers and visitors")...

quickly deduced that our services didn't care for them.

What a sad reality.  But true.

Using the Nike slogan, Just Do It for one section of his book, Jones says,

Remember it was (sic) called the book of Acts, not the book of Thoughts.

Jones' book is hard-hitting and theologically sound.   He reminds us of the most-important concept:

As a jealous Monarchist, the Holy Spirit is consumed with the single aim of bringing worship and glory to Jesus, rather than calling attention to the individual being used.

It is not about me.  It is not about us.   It is all about Jesus.

I don't want to give away all of Jones' brilliant one-liners in the book, but speaking about obstacles to ministry, he pulls this one out of his hat:

If you spend the majority of your time in a theological cloister oyster, somebody has sold you bad clams.

I love it!

Jones speaks from the heart, with a heart for reaching people potentially lost for eternity.  He is a career minister/pastor, yet he sees the reality of vocational ministry,

The recurring pattern in my life is that I've never really been effective in ministry until I've left full-time vocational ministry.  What if our ideas of "ministry" are keeping us from reaching the people right outside our doors?

Now if you are a full-time vocational pastor reading this book-review blog, please don't switch off after reading that.  It's a deep from-the-heart statement from a peer fellow minister who wants to help you and your church to reach the lost.   Read the book.  Don't stop at this blog!

There are so many profound truths expressed by Jones in one-liners in this book that I can't do a spoiler here. 

Jones moves in a logical sequence from outlining timeless biblical truths to pointing out church history and contemporary western church issues, through to biblical solutions to move forward, redeem churches and reach the lost. 

Jones draws on a childhood of cartoons, comic books, superheroes and classics to illustrate (in words, not pictures!) his chapters.   Although his words form pretty good pictures as you read them!   It's serious but entertaining in a serious way.   He uses Tolkein's Bilbo Baggins to illustrate the journey from passive to hero-burglar, not because the courage was in Bilbo when he left the Shire, but because he was willing to go.  It was his experiences on the journey that changed him, just as we must let God change and grow us to do His mission.

As something that seems an interesting side-journey, Jones talks about short-term mission and the impact it can have.  Some people are critical of short-term cross-cultural mission trips, and Jones gives a very measured perspective of these experiences, but you'll have to read the book to find out his views!

Jones speaks a lot about the power of the Holy Spirit in ministry, often using military terms that we can understand, like:

As soon as your foot hits enemy occupied soil, the Holy Spirit answers the call with an airstrike.  

This is not a warm and fuzzy book; it is seriously biblical.   The book is built on Acts 1:8, and Jones cleverly uses the components of this verse for his structure, finishing with "to the ends of the earth."   It's a longish book (248 pages) but you can skim it.  As you skim it, I suspect you'll be tempted to go back and read it cover to cover.  Worth reading for the sake of Jesus' universal and eternal church.

Peyton Jones has also written Church Zero and Church Planting Ninja, has a website and blogspot at https://peytonjones.ninja/.   Jones is still building his website and resource library.


Reference:

Jones, P., Reaching the Unreached - Becoming Raiders of the Lost Art, ePub edition 2017, Harper Collins, Grand Rapids

I have the e-book version, purchased in December 2018 for $13.99 AUD
 

How Does the World Get it So Right?

The early disciples were adventurers.   They were tough men.  Real men. 

Paul was not content to pastor other people's church plants - he wanted to do the hard work himself:

"...I desire to preach where Christ has not been named, so as not to build on another person’s foundation"  Rom. 15:20 (NET)

That meant he had to go, search, find, travel, research and provide for himself.

Stephen was stoned because he didn't compromise.

John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey, lived in the desert and wore garments made of camel hair.  He was beheaded because he took a Godly moral stand.

The man born blind whose sight was restored by Jesus was thrown out of the temple community because he witnessed strongly that Jesus was from God.  John 9:33

I can't say it better than Paul said it himself:

"Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with a rod. Once I received a stoning. Three times I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I spent adrift in the open sea. I have been on journeys many times, in dangers from rivers, in dangers from robbers, in dangers from my own countrymen, in dangers from Gentiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, in dangers at sea, in dangers from false brothers, in hard work and toil, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, many times without food, in cold and without enough clothing."  2 Cor. 11:24-27

Josheb-Basshebeth was a mighty warrior who killed eight hundred men with his spear in one battle.   Shammah single-handedly defended a field against the Philistine Army.  Benaiah killed a lion.  See Samuel chapter 23 for more warrior biographies.

Men want to be men.   Men of God need to be Men of God!

In his book, "Why Men Hate Going to Church", David Morrow says, 

"... the church is no longer fishing for men.   Instead, it's creating a comfortable aquarium for the saints."

Jones says it this way in "Reaching the Unreached - Becoming Raiders of the Lost Art",

"We replace the power of an unpredictable God, wild to the core, with what is secure, manageable and predictable."

Morrow again,

"You might say that the church is full of passivity activists whose greatest energies are devoted to fighting change."

Sure, Jesus is a lamb.  But he is also a lion.

He was the perfect, unblemished Lamb of God

"who takes away the sin of the world." John 1:29

But Jesus is also the Lion of Judah, fearful and awesome who will destroy His enemies.

Just like the famous Old Testament warriors but invincible, Jesus is the Commander of the Lord's Army.  He appeared to Joshua armed with a sword.  Josh. 5:13-15

Morrow says,

"Adventures with Christ change men in a way simple church attendance never could."

Contrast mens spiritual health in the western church with Sufferfest, a secular athlete's coaching program.   Take an abridged tour of Sufferlandria (remember this is a serious commercial product marketing to athletes):

On the shores of the great inland Lactic Acid Sea lies the proud, tortured nation of Sufferlandria. We are a country that knows no borders, only lactate thresholds. Most of our citizens have only recently discovered their Sufferlandrian lineage, and were washed onto our shores by waves of sweat and the tears of their vanquished competitors. Forget those other countries. No one does Suffering like we do. We live it. We breathe it. We chop it into sharp, bite-sized pieces and eat it for breakfast. 

Make your next vacation a paincation.  We warmly welcome tourists. Our landscape, like our populace, is rugged and varied. From the fiery caldera and lava snows of Mount Sufferlandria to the vast, rolling expanses of the Amber Waves of Pain; from the sparsely-populated Whine Country to the brutal beauty of the Valley of Nine Hammers.

Sufferlandria: Like fun, without the fun parts.

So why does this appeal to men?   I think it's simply because men need to be challenged, pushed to their limits, and they want to experience their adventurous DNA.

Yet there is none who has suffered like Jesus.   He suffered so much anguish before making His once-for-all perfect sacrifice for all of humanity that his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

Jesus died on the cross so that our relationship with God could be restored.  And on the third day, Jesus rose from the dead and, right now, He is alive at the right hand of God.   Following His resurrection, Jesus appeared to many, including His disciples, and gave them direction:

In Matthew 28:18, Jesus stated His level of authority.  ALL.   All authority.
In Matthew 28:19, Jesus gave a command.  GO.  MAKE DISCIPLES.
In Matthew 28:20, Jesus reminded His disciples:  I AM WITH YOU.
In Acts 1:8, Jesus promised the Holy Spirit, and in Acts 2:4, the Holy Spirit filled believers.

If Jesus made us and equipped us to get out of our comfort zones to do a job, if Jesus is with us, and if Jesus has all authority, why do we avoid it?

The world knows what appeals to men:  suffering, adventure, challenges, results.   These are exactly the things that matter to Jesus, and (should matter) to men in the church, but we avoid it.   But here's the difference:

The world is striving to achieve in its own strength.  Each individual bloke is relying on himself to achieve his personal objectives.   We worship a spiritual God.   Our life is a spiritual one.  Christians have the power of the Holy Spirit and Jesus' personal presence - the very same Jesus who has all authority in heaven and on earth.

Step out in the power of the Holy Spirit, trusting Jesus who is with you.  Be a man.

Be the man God called you to be.


Credits:

Jones, Peyton, Reaching the Unreached - Becoming Raiders of the Lost Art (e-book), 2017, Harper Collins, Grand Rapids

Morrow, David, Why Men Hate Going to Church (e-book), 2011, Thomas Nelson, Tennessee

Sufferfest:  https://thesufferfest.com/pages/visit-sufferlandria (05/01/2019)

Image 1:https://me.me/i/when-the-church-becamea-night-club-and-the-pulpit-became-297b6beeb8134c2a9fe3c93b1774be95

Image 2: https://thesufferfest.com/pages/visit-sufferlandria (05/01/2019)