Missions Blog

Cease-fire brings hope to Uganda - Yahoo! News

Praise the Lord Jesus for the newly declared cease fire in Uganda. This is what many people have been praying for. From the article:

KAMPALA, Uganda - A cease-fire between Uganda’s government and a shadowy rebel movement that has terrorized this east African nation for nearly two decades went into effect Tuesday.

The truce signed Saturday is aimed at ending the brutal war between the government and the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army, notorious for cutting off the tongues and lips of innocent civilians, enslaving thousands of children, and driving nearly 2 million people from their homes.

Thanks to Ben Arbour for the link to the article.

1. Figure out exactly what Christianity must look like and then preach it as loud as possible. As people buy in, make sure that you let them know if they ever depart from your model they will lose their faith.

2. Read a biography and conclude that the person was like that all the time and try to live it out. If you ever take time to rest or don’t pray at least 5 hours a day, beat yourself up.

3. Decide you’re a prophet and figure out what is wrong in everyone else’s life. Share with everyone you know what is wrong with the common people you know in public settings. Use sentences like “If they would just do this” or “the reason bad things happen to them is because…”

4. View God as mean and annoyed with you. Treat everyone else the way you think God treats you.

5. Try to figure out what the most extreme thing you can do or say in every situation and then do it. If you ever fail consider yourself guilty of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

6. Assume all the problems in your church are everyone else’s fault and not yours. Never consider how your church would be if everyone was like you.

7. If anyone shares about something you have never experienced consider yourself more mature and knowledgeable and completely write them off. Give them a negative look or make sure that they see the disapproving look on your face. Make sure to grab everyone you know afterwards and let them know how wrong this person was. Preach to them from your experience.

8. Assume that everyone that isn’t involved with your group or church isn’t very spiritual. Treat them like you are the expert and they know nothing.

9. Never praise anyone. Always focus on the negative…after all isn’t that how God treats people?

10. Two words…GUILT TRIPS!

11. If anyone ever leaves your church or group consider them apostate. Find out some new thing they believed and pinpoint that as the reason they aren’t “doing well”. Never allow anyone to believe that. Even though you don’t think people can lose their salvation, make an exception. Scratch that, they were probably never saved to begin with.

Of course, it’s not like I have done any of these things …

Man this sounds really mean. This is more about the extremism that too many people take on in Christianity. I have fallen victim to some of it and I hope you won’t. I guess it is only offensive if we see ourselves in any of these. Hopefully we can laugh about and then move on from overly judgmental attitudes towards ourselves and others.

By the way, I am all about us living radically for King Jesus, but not in these ways. I have seen myself and others spend too much time being “radical” and not enough time radically loving. May our Father help us all.

World Crises | Reuters.com
This article from Reuters describes a man in India who slit his throat in front of a Hindu diety.

LUCKNOW, India, Aug 23 (Reuters) - An Indian man “sacrificed” himself by slitting his throat in front of a Hindu deity at a temple in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, police said.

Natha Ram Pal, 45, a father of four, shocked devotees at the village temple when he picked up a knife and slashed his throat in the courtyard.

He was rushed to a hospital where he died, senior police officer Dawa Sherpa told Reuters.

“The temple has a history of people sacrificing their tongues on new moon nights to fulfil their desires,” Sherpa said. “But even that has not been heard of in recent times.”

Pal’s family described him as an “obsessively religious person”, who spent most of his time at local temples in the village, about 50 km (30 miles) north of the state capital, Lucknow.

Thank you Jason for the article.

Patristic, Presbyterian, Puritan, Post-Modern, Pentecostal: Thoughts on the Sabbath

Ben Arbour wrote down some good thoughts on the Sabbath. As someone who is learning a lot about resting and the reality of burn out I really appreciate these thoughts:

We have to learn that in order to redeem the time, we must rest so that in our work we can truly redeem the time while we are working. Further still, we must learn that when we play, we are redeeming the time. Still further, if we do not allow ourselves to play, we are not truly redeeming the time.

The Sabbath is one of the most revolutionary things that God gave to the nation of Israel. He ordered them to take time off. While the rest (no pun intended) of the world worked 7 days a week, Israel got to enjoy this time to worship and recharge.

I have taken time to “rest” but have felt guilty for it, or that I could be spending my time more wisely. The problem comes when my soul begins to die. I may be able to continue to do the outward ministry of my “profession”, but on the inside I feel lifeless, tired, and disconnected from the Lord. I continue to teach and disciple, but I see the fruitfulness decline. When I take time out to rest and play it gives me a new energy in my soul to minister to and love people.

This resting and playing can take different forms, from playing a video game with a friend, watching a football game, discussing a book you have read or talking about theology. It is really just whatever you find to be genuinely restful and fun.

Matt Chandler once preached a sermon about the various festivals in the Old Testament and the harsh punishments that were to be carried out on those who violated them. He interpreted these commands as “Party or I will kill you.”

Qlock - World Clock

If you ever needed to know what time it is somewhere in the world this is a very helpful link. Check it out.

“End of the Spear” is now availiable on DVD. Get it here.

This movie tells the story of Nate Saint and his fellow missionaries who were martyred by Auca Indians while trying to reach them with the gospel. One of my favorite things about this movie is that it doesn’t stop with their matyrdom, but shows the ministry that their wives had among this group after they died. They led the same men that killed their husbands to Christ.

As we used to say in the Corps, if you haven’t seen this movie “YOU’RE WRONG!” I am pretty sure that I missed the boat on the release date for this movie, but I felt that I should put it up here anyway.

Rocketboom

Rocketboom’s video today features the LRA’s, the Lord’s Resistance Army, leader Joseph Kony. This is his first press conference in 20 years. He is leader of the group responsible for the atrocities exposed in “Invisible Children“. The interview includes video of the child soldiers.

While all eyes are on the Middle East, this war continues to claim a 1000 lives a week from violence and disease. Mr. Kony tops the International Criminal Court’s Most Wanted list.

You can watch “Invisible Children” online here.