Missions
My View of the World–2018
It’s interesting how many people divide life into sacred and secular–as if “reality”” can be parceled into two different sectors.
For example, many writers on politics and world affairs rarely mention God, His principles or His purposes. They talk about political parties, issues, national affairs, and “worldly stuff” (secular)–as if God and His Kingdom don’t exist.
Others write about missions, prayer, world evangelism etc. and never seem to mention the things that are happening in the “world” that greatly affect these thrusts.
Here’s my perspective on the world–2018–from both a political and spiritual perspective. You can’t understand one without the other.
Why the Resurrection Matters
I have believed for many years that the most important week in world history is Holy Week–the seven day period when Jesus of Nazareth arrived to fanfare in Jerusalem, died on a Roman cross of torture, and three days later was raised to life.
Of those seven days, Good Friday stands as the centerpiece–the day God substituted the death of His own Son in the place of humanity’s sin to bring forgiveness to all who believe. Good Friday was a day of atonement–a “covering” of our rebellion by the agonizing love of God.
Recently I’ve been thinking more about the Resurrection. It wasn’t the day of redemption. It didn’t have anything to do forgiving our sins.
But the Resurrection matters.
Deeply.
Here’s why.
The two most widely read articles I’ve written over the past few years describe the uniqueness of Jesus Christ and his unparalleled impact on world history. If you want some inspirational thoughts this week, here’s where you can find them.
The Uniqueness of Jesus Christ.
How Easter Changed the World–and Can Do It Again.
Yet, the Resurrection of Jesus confused me for a while because I kept finding Scriptures that indicated that Jesus was the first to rise from the dead (Acts 26:23). The idea was that because he was first, then the rest of us would follow. He was the first-fruits of a general resurrection of both the redeemed and unredeemed (1 Corinthians 15:20).
But I also knew that, in one sense, Jesus was not the first person to come back to life. Elijah performed that miracle on a young boy in the Old Testament (1 Kings 17:17-24) and his prophetic heir, Elisha, did the same thing (2 Kings 4:18-37).
I assume there were others.
In the New Testament, we have at least two stories of Jesus Himself resurrecting people. First was the young man in Nain who got up off his burial bed when Jesus gave the command (Luke 7:11-17). Even more impressive was the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:1-44). He’d been in a tomb for four days and it was presumed that he was well rotted and the stench would be terrible (John 11:39).
But Jesus shouted for Lazarus to “Come Forth” out of the tomb (John 11:43). Apparently, whatever had been decayed was made whole, his spirit returned, and he walked out of the cave still wrapped in grave clothers.
So it’s pretty clear from both Old and New Testaments that, in the sense of those stories, Jesus was definitely not the first human being to be brought back to life (resusitated or resurrected).
So what makes his resurrection on Easter Sunday “first” or important?
Let’s go a little deeper.
Jesus was the first resurrected person that never had to die again. His resurrection was permanent, eternal. All others who experienced resurrection ended up dying once more. The young boy in Nain lived out his life and then died gain. Lazarus enjoyed more years with Mary and Martha, but then passed away a second time.
Jesus rose never to die again. It even appears that He was given a different body that could pass through walls (Luke 24:36), appeared different to the disciples (Luke 24:16), and ascended into heaven (Luke 24:51). His resurrection body seemed to be made from “different stuff” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).
That resurrection–the first of its kind–signaled a change in the eternal order of things. From now on, those who put their trust in God’s atonement and were born again by his Spirit would join his permanent resurrection when they passed from this life.
Those who believed in Him “would never die” (John 11:25). Just like Jesus, we will be raised to a permanent resurrection.
But there’s one more reason for the greatness of the Resurrection:
It was the final PROOF that Jesus was God, not man, and that His promises are true.
Other people have sacrificed their lives. Some people have claimed to know God or be the way to God. But only ONE backed up that claim by rising from the dead.
Jesus Christ.
There is no other.
Let the remarkable words of Scripture speak for themselves:
“Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.”
“But the angel answered and said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he is risen as he said. Come see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and indeed he is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold I have told you.’”
“So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold Jesus met them saying, ‘Rejoice!’ So they came and held him by the feet and worshipped Him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. God and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.’”
“Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw him, they worshipped Him; but some doubted.”
“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and makes disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’”
(Matthew 28:1-10, 6-20).
Jesus Christ, the wondrously unique God/man, died for the sins for the world and rose from the dead to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt he was more than a human being. Resurrection served as the final witness in his trial for credibility.
Josh McDowell devotes eighty-five pages of his classic work, Evidence That Demands a Verdict, to the historical, logical and literary proofs for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His risen life remains one of the most provable events of ancient times.
He points out that human beings living since the death and resurrection of Jesus are faced with only three choices relating to the Son of God. Either he was a lunatic who made crazy claims—a liar who has deceived billions—or the Lord of life that he claimed to be.
Number three is the most logical choice.
G.B. Hardy exclaims: “Here is the record. Confucius tomb – occupied. Buddha’s tomb – occupied. Mohammed’s tomb – occupied. Jesus’ tomb — EMPTY. The decision is yours to make; the evidence speaks for itself. It says very clearly—Christ is risen indeed!”
The proof is in. Once for all sacrifice for sin. Permanent first resurrection. Those who believe follow.
Happy Easter.
Rejoice!
The Power of Unity–for Good or for Evil
Many years ago, God convinced me about the importance of unity in the Body of Christ around the world. This came out of a time of meditation on John 17–the longest prayer of Jesus in the Bible.
From that moment, I committed myself to be a unifier of God’s Church for the sake of world evangelism.
Two recent events confirmed to me the importance of unity as a means of great blessing. But there is also a devious application as well.
Unity is powerful–both for good and for evil.
In my early years as a follower of Christ, I tended to be judgmental about various parts of the Church. I was raised in a liberal setting that had thrown out Christ and the Bible for various social causes. When I gave my life to Jesus in 1968, it was convenient to look down on the white-washed religion of my younger years.
It was also easy to dislike or suspect others in the Body of Christ that I either didn’t understand or who appeared to have more of God. For example, for a while I looked skeptically at charismatics and Pentecostals who talked about the power of the Holy Spirit. Then I had an encounter with God’s Spirit that broke a bondage in my life and leveled my pride.
Still, in my first decade of discipleship, I remember looking skeptically at Christian unity and having a jaded eye toward those whom I considered weak in their message. To my shame, I even aimed this attitude at Billy Graham–thinking that some of his messages were a bit “light” and oriented toward “cheap grace” which I questioned.
The Holy Spirit spanked me pretty good on that one, convicting me of my arrogance toward a man who’d led multitudes to Christ. When I changed my attitude, and to bring forth fruit in keeping with my repentance, God led our family to begin financially supporting the Billy Graham Association.
When you make a mistake you need to make it right.
Then came the revelations from John 17. Its central theme is the importance of God’s people enjoying a powerful and Trinity-oriented form of unity.
John 17 should really be called “The Lord’s Prayer” in the New Testament. In it you hear the heart of God’s Son cry out for unity in His followers. Here are some of the verses that spoke to me out of Jesus’ prayer:
“20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Let’s break down the central points of this powerful petition:
- Jesus prayed for all of His followers, past and present. That applies to you and I today.
- He prayed that we would have the same depth of unity that He and the Father enjoyed in Trinity love.
- Placing his “glory” in us through the Holy Spirit was key to our unity via the fruits He produces.
- He wants our unity to be complete, or some translations say, perfect. This is not a shallow level of cooperation or oneness but as deep and powerful as He shared with His Father.
- When God’s people act in loving unity, then two incredible things will happen: 1) The world will know there’s only one true Messiah (“you sent me”), and 2) The people of the world will know that they are loved (“you have loved them”).
Out of this passage I became deeply convinced that the humble, loving, heart-felt unity that God produces in believers is the key to world evangelization and combatting low self esteem. In other words, a united Church will see multitudes come to Jesus and know that they are loved.
So, I set my heart to be a true unifier of God’s people, to be very careful to not speak negatively about other parts of the Church, and do all I could do to unite it.
I really believe that the person who does the most to bring unity to the Church will make the greatest contribution to world evangelization (if Jesus’ words mean anything).
Here’s how I recently saw some glimpses of John 17.
Mongolia Gateway
I’ve been working in the nation of Mongolia for nearly twenty years helping to train and unite a first generation Church to walk in the Spirit of John 17.
I saw it on full display this July.
The Mongolian Gateway Camp brought together 320 young Mongol missionaries from all over the nation and many different churches. We didn’t care about their style, theology, or social status. Bottom line was, “Do you love Jesus and believe in the authority of God’s Word?”
The diversity of the campers evidenced this biblical truth: unity is essentials, liberty in non-essentials and love in all things.
We had a powerful week of John 17 unity:
1. World Vision provided the buses to bring the young people to the camp.
2. Cru (Campus Crusade) did most of the seminar training for the campers on how to share their faith.
3. YWAM did much of the main session teaching and financially paid for a portion of the camp.
4. The Central Asia director of Youth for Christ (a Korean who was raised in Tajikistan who now lives in Russia) was a major speaker and influence.
5. The Mongolian leader of the camp is a local church pastor and also the national director of Youth for Christ (YFC).
Do you see the power of various groups leaving their egos at the door and doing their part–in unity–to multiply the Church in Mongolia?
It was a beautiful to watch. At the current time, I’m following up on this wonderful experience by trying to help the Mongolian YFC leader purchase his first apartment in Ulaanbaatar so that his ministry can be strengthened and multiplied.
A YWAMer is raising money for YFC!
I believe the heavens rejoice over this Mongolian answer to Jesus’ prayer.
YWAM Together 2016
I just returned from a global gathering of the YWAM family in Kansas City where four thousand YWAMers from over one hundred nations came together to celebrate Jesus and lift Him up in the nations. One day we opened up the KC Municipal Auditorium to the larger Body of Christ and brought 8,000 believers together for God’s purposes.
The power of John 17 unity was seen in manifold ways at YWAM Together:
1. The International House of Prayer partnered with us by housing missionaries and opening their university campus to afternoon workshops. Mike Bickle, the founder of IHOP-KC, spoke to our gathering and committed to bring the global prayer groups fully behind global missions. This is like uniting a rifle with gun powder–for fulfilling the Great Commission.
2. Loren Cunningham shared his passion for “Ending Bible Poverty Now” by taking the next four years to give Jesus a “Christmas present” in December of 2020 by getting a portion of the Bible into the remaining 1776 languages remaining to be translated. Both the heads of the American Bible Society and the Jesus Film Project joined hearts and arms in commitment to complete this milestone. We can only do it together.
3. The week also focused on empowering people called to the seven leadership spheres of society–the domains of the family, religion (church & mission), education, celebration (arts, entertainment and sports), public communication (media), economics (including business, science and technology), and government (law). Uniting believers in all these spheres can lead to the discipling of entire nations.
Both of these events are expressions of how God is uniting His Church around the world to bring God’s will to earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).
The key to the cause is biblical unity.
The devil is trying to do the same thing. In the Islamic jihadist realm, the enemy of people’s souls is trying to build a world-wide (united) Caliphate and force all people to convert to Islam. In the Western World, the the United Nations and many aspects of progressive politics desire to see a one world government that will force secular unity on the globe.
Building a form of oneness is key to their plans also. Unity can be used for both evil and good. So what are we to do?
Resist the evil forms of union and throw our hearts into answering Jesus’ prayer!
We can do it through the power of biblical unity (John 17:21-23).