Missions Wednesday: Spain

Spain holds over 39 million people, yet this population is projected to decline in coming years. Like the rest of Europe, increased secularism has led to a decline in the birth rate of this once strongly Catholic nation. Catholicism is still considered the official religion, and equality for others (Jews, Muslims, Evangelicals) was only granted in 1992. 40-50% of the Catholic population are considered inactive, so while religion seems to be a strong force, it is often in number only. Once a country of religious discrimination, secularism now prevails.

The Catholic Church is in trouble in Spain. It has increasingly lost numbers and influence. This has created a spiritual vacuum which has been filled with materialism and secularism, cults, drugs, gambling, and the occult. This is not the outcome hoped for as religious freedom has increased.

Ways to pray:

1. Pray for evangelical growth. The existing churches are in concentrated areas. Pray for spreading and acceptance of the Gospel.
   
2. Pray for church leaders. Many must be bi-vocational due to small numbers and high unemployment. Pray for faithfulness and perseverance.
   
3. Pray for those yet to be reached: North African Muslim immigrants, the student population (one million), and the 13 million people with no evangelical church in their town.

Understanding the Great Commission

We hear it all the time. Christians need to be about the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). We should care about Jesus’ commands to “make disciples of all nations.” But what exactly does Jesus mean when he says to “make disciples.” I’ve heard a lot about making converts and how many “decisions” were made at a recent revival or evangelism outreach event. I can’t help but wonder, when I hear those statements, that maybe Jesus had something far more involved in mind when he gave us this great commission.

I think Jesus is strategic when he tells us to make disciples. By this point in our reading of Matthew we already have an idea of what a disciple looks like. Jesus’ disciples were invested in by him, they spent time with him, and they knew him intimately. Perhaps Jesus is telling us to engage in something far more profound than simply checking a box on a decision card or coming forward during the altar call.

Jesus is calling us to give our lives for people. Discipleship takes hard work. It takes living life with people, knowing their struggles, knowing their past and present, and it takes getting out of our comfort zones. The command to make disciples is not a lone ranger idea. It’s done within a community of believers, the Church, who love one another. But that doesn’t mean we are off the hook if our church is fulfilling this command, and we aren’t. Even though commands are given corporately, they are also applied individually.

In Colossians 1:28-29 Paul is giving us a picture of the sanctification/discipleship process. He talks about laboring to present people “mature in Christ.” He even goes so far as to say he toils and struggles with all of his energy. When Paul talks about believers it is always as a father speaks to his children. He doesn’t leave them to fend for themselves after conversion. Rather he nurtures them, shepherds them, and stays with them. This is the process of making disciples. This is the Great Commission.

Of course, it’s not easy. It’s much easier to get people to sign a card or make a profession of faith, and then just leave them on their own. But that’s not what we are called to. Living the Great Commission requires us to be like Paul, to labor and struggle with our new brothers and sisters as they walk this pilgrim road to become more like Christ.

The very fact that Jesus tells us to make disciples shows us that there is no provision for us to abandon people at their time of decision. A young mom who is a new believer needs an older woman to walk a long side her and show her what it means to be patient with her kids and prize her husband. A fatherless, teenage boy who just was brought to Christ needs a godly older man to show him what true fatherhood looks like, and help him purge the old sin from his life.
Some of us are called to make disciples of all nations in the far corners of the earth; some are called to do it with our own family members. The point is, we are all called to go and make disciples in the sphere of influence that God has us in.

Missions Wednesday: Singapore

Often when we think of countries that are effective for the Gospel we only think of ones that define themselves as Christians. How could a country that only claims 15% of its population as believers be a place of key ministry training for leaders in other countries? Singapore is one of the world’s wealthiest countries. Located on the southern tip of Malaysia, Singapore has nearly 4 million people packed on this large island (and several smaller ones). The rest of Singapore’s population are Buddhist (majority), Muslim, non-religious, or other religions.

While there is freedom of religion, there is a deep concern and desire to maintain unity among the people—leading to legislations that limits speaking publicly about religious beliefs.

Since 1970, the number of Christians has doubled. This gives great hope for the hearts of the people of Singapore. And among university and medical students the percentage of Christians is even higher.

While the percentage of believers is small, Singapore is a “sending” country, sending over 450 missionaries from their country. According to Operation World, Singapore has one of the best missionary to church ratios in the world (approximately 1 missionary for every 1 protestant/evangelical church).

Ways to pray:

1. Singapore is very wealthy. Like all of us, the pull to worship the gift of money rather than the giver has taken its toll. Pray that younger Christians would do radical things for God’s glory with their affluence.
2. Pray for the existing Bible training facilities. There are many seminaries, Bible schools, and theological training programs throughout Singapore. People from all over Asia have come to learn. Pray for continued faithfulness and endurance.
3. Young people are the most responsive to the Gospel. Pray that they will be discipled and shepherded by godly, older believers and plugged in to a local church.

Joining the Everlasting Song

The other day I was listening to Together for the Gospel Live by Bob Kauflin. While leading the musical worship he said something that struck me. He said, "we may just be beginning our song this morning, but we are joining a greater song that is already going on." When we sing our praises to God, we are joining with the saints around the throne of King Jesus. That made me weep.

When my granpda died earlier this year, I would think of that truth often while singing during the worship service. "He's already there. He already sees fully what I can only see dimly," I would think to myself. It would make me long for that day all the more knowing that someone I loved so dearly was experiencing joy and fellowship that I only can long for. And so is our baby. When we sing praises to God, we are joining in a song that our baby is already singing. Which means that fellowship with God, and with his people, should be the greatest source of comfort for us. It's what he is already getting and seeing.

I know it seems small, but it was huge for me to realize that. Just one more reminder that God is there pulling me through and teaching me more about who he is. One day, I will join the everlasting song with our baby. Until then, I pray that I can worship Christ with all my heart, longing for the day when my faith becomes sight.

Hope Found in an Old Story

I always forget how much I love reading the Gospels until I begin reading them again. And then I am struck with the richness of the story. God came to earth. Even grander than that, he came as a little, helpless baby. We get to read this story on the other side of history. For the characters partaking, they don’t know how it will all unfold.

For hundreds of years prior to the time of the Gospels God had been silent. No vision. No prophets. No word from him. Imagine that. All you have heard about your people is that God is with you and then he is just silent—for four generations. That had to be discouraging and troubling.

In Luke 1 we are introduced to Zechariah and Elizabeth. I have always appreciated their story. It’s so exciting. Maybe it stands out to me more now because I can understand (in some small measure) what it means to long for a child that you do not have. I wonder how much more Zechariah and Elizabeth felt that God was absent because he had not opened her womb. God was silent in Israel, but he was also silent (seemingly) in their own personal story. In Luke 1:6 we are told that both she and her husband were righteous, following all of the Lord’s commandments, and then we are told the terrible news, “but they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren” (vs. 7). Being barren was a great reproach, and she bore that shame every day of her life. She just wanted a baby.

And then Zechariah goes to the temple. Our pastor just started preaching through the Gospel of Luke and one of the things he pointed out in this point in the story was how God answered Zechariah’s specific prayer. He did not give Zechariah a grand vision for the people waiting outside. He answered Zechariah and Elizabeth’s cry for a child. It would be this child who would be the forerunner to the greatest story ever told.

God is a personal God. We say that so often and it becomes cliché. But it’s true, regardless of its overuse. God was working a thousand good details in the desperation of Zechariah and Elizabeth’s longing for a child. They just might not have always seen it. I know I often don’t. What Luke shows us, and what the rest of the Gospels show for that matter, is that God is not some uninvolved Father, leaving his children to fend for themselves. Rather he is a compassionate and merciful God, who is always in the details of our lives—even when they hurt. He might not show up in the ways we would like until the twilight of our lives, but that doesn’t mean he is not there, caring for us and working out everything for our good. Lord, help me to believe this daily.

Friday is for Food (a little late)

This weekend we had a marriage conference at church, which is why this post is a little late. I signed up to bring a dessert to the Friday evening session. Pretty easy, right. Well, I had been planning on making pumpkin bars all week because it's fall and it's a very "fall-y" food (even though it is 90 degrees and doesn't feel like fall). I went to Kroger on Thursday night to get my ingredients. I searched all over the baked goods aisle to no avail. I could not locate the pumpkin for the life of me. Finally I asked the stocker where the pumpkin was and he said "we don't have it yet. It's seasonal."

What! Seasonal? It's September! 'Tis the season for pumpkin, people!

Anyway, being a novice baker I am not equipped to just figure something else out. So I went to my default desssert, boxed brownie mix. But I went all fancy and bought the Ghiradelli kind because we were going to church. So today's recipe is not the pumpkin bars I hoped for, but it's still good.

I made pulled beef sandwiches in the crockpot earlier this week and we love it! Here it is:

BBQ Beef Sandwiches from Best-Loved Slow Cooker Recipes

1 boneless beef chuck roast (about 3 pounds)
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of liquid smoke
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
10 to 12 sandwich buns

Place beef in slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients, except rolls, in medium bowl; pour over meat. Cover; cook on low 8 to 9 hours.

Remove beef from slow cooker; shred with 2 forks.

Combine beef with 1 cup sauce from slow cooker. Evenly distribute meat and sauce mixture among warmed rolls.

Enjoy! Happy weekend!

Missions Wednesday: Rwanda

Many of us are not so far removed from the 1990’s to remember the horrible genocide that took place in Rwanda between the Hutus and Tutsis. I was young during the turmoil, but in college I was awakened to what happened while watching the movie Hotel Rwanda. As I learned more about the slaughtering of a million people I was even more surprised to hear that eighty percent of Rwandans are identified as Christians. Even though many would say they are followers of Christ, they have been plagued by years of hatred of fellow brothers and sisters simply because of their ethnic heritage.

It’s easy to look at people across the ocean and turn down our noses. How could Christians do such a thing? They have acted so “un-Christian”. And they have. But so have we. Maybe personally we have not been participants of such violence and murder, but our hearts are wicked. We have “hated our brother in our hearts,” and Jesus tells us that is as offensive to God (Matthew 5:21-22). Granted, this genocide is horrific and overwhelming to say the least. All the more reason to pray for the Holy Spirit’s work in their life, asking God to show our brothers and sister in Rwanda that their hatred of anyone is morally reprehensible and sin against God.

It’s hard to imagine what a tragedy such as the genocide would do to a nation. They surely don’t recover quickly. In Rwanda, many of the people who committed the atrocities are still at large. Families were destroyed. Children lost parents. Churches lost pastors. Parents lost children. Though it has been nearly 15 years since this happened, the scars will linger for many years to come.

Ways to pray:

1. Pray for repentance. Ask God to bring many Rwandans to repentance for sins committed against their neighbors.
   
2. Pray for the church in Rwanda. Many pastors lost their lives during the genocide. The ones who survived were faced with ministering to people who saw unspeakable tragedy. Ministry is hard without something like this. It’s only harder when you are faced with multiple orphans, overwhelming death, and a war torn nation.
   
3. Pray for the young people. Many children were left orphaned by the genocide. These children have now grown up, many now entering adulthood. For some they have had to raise their families in the absence of parents. This takes its toll on a person.
   
4. Pray that Christians would feel called to go and disciple believers in Rwanda. There is a need for solid Bible teaching in Rwanda. Pray that people would feel the burden to go and proclaim God’s Word in this land.