Transformissional Church

The Missional Church in My Neighborhood

A former student of mine, from a class at the Wheaton Graduate School, is a church-planter in Carol Stream, the town where I live in suburban Chicago. His work, directly supported by the North American Mission Board of the SBC, is one of the most thrilling missional church visions I know firsthand. He recently posted a prayer request on his Facebook that so thrilled me I asked his permission to blog this so you could see his vision and understand what is really going on in America. (I am changing names here to protect the mission and the people involved.) My friend wrote:

In the past couple months, our team has been connecting with Nepali refugees who have recently started moving into Chicagoland. The first connections were made through some Karen teens who invited some Nepali young adults to the Karen Bible study.

Our friendships have developed well through a Karen midweek study, an international Sunday school and some other special events. Last week (1/11), things took a new turn as I was able to gather six Nepali’s together for a time of prayer and conversation. They all agreed that we should move forward in trying to start a Nepali church (satsang), although only two of the six people are presently believers.

Tomorrow, we will have our first formal Nepali Satsang (like a church, but contextualized--still very Christocentric) at the home of a family that is Brahman Hindu.

Pray for one of the two known Nepali believers in this small group. He'll be translating and trying to learn how to lead. His English is pretty good, but he's not fluent. Because of this I ask that you pray for God's wisdom to help him translate the message well.

Pray for me as I lead this service. There are several Sanskrit-language prayers that I'm not that good at yet. Pray that God gives me the skill I will need. Pray that the prayer/worship is encouraging and well received by the Nepali’s that attend. Pray also for my preaching. I will speak from Mark 1, the beginning of the gospel. I will try to explain why the coming of Jesus Christ is good news for Nepali’s. Pray that God will give the listeners open hearts to believe the message and begin to follow Christ.

Pray for other Nepali’s to come to this meeting as well. There are transportation difficulties. Pray for a good turnout. Pray that Satan will be bound and kept away as we invade new territory. Pray also for God to provide the financial resources we need to effectively plant this new church. There are no Nepali churches in Chicago. This is truly new territory. Most of the Nepali’s who are coming are from unreached people groups. There are several things that we need, but the biggest thing right now is a way to provide financially for this Nepali brother so he can dedicate his full-time effort to ministry preparation. I'm praying that God will raise him up as the pastor of this new church. He loves the Lord, is a great singer, and speaks five languages.

I hope you read this prayer request carefully. This is in America. This is in the suburbs of Chicago. This is not across the globe. These are my neighbors. Who will reach them with the good news? My former student is doing that and yet few appreciate the missional dynamic of his calling. While you are at al pray for me that I might be a good teacher and mentor to men like this young man who is so faithful to the gospel of the kingdom.

We Live Together As Brothers Only in the Kingdom

I decided to view The Hiding Place again this week. I saw it when it was released in May of 1975, 33 years ago. I knew the story well from the book and the film, but had not watched the movie since that original showing when I was 27 years old. I had  quite naturally forgotten certain elements of the story, that came back to me by seeing it again. I urge you to watch it sometime, even if you saw it years ago like me.

About two years ago I visited The National Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. I would highly recommend it to you when you visit Washington. In the section of the museum where tribute is paid to righteous Gentiles who rescued Jews, the Ten Boom family of Holland is listed.

There is a line in the movie that deeply moves me. Corrie is discussing the present and the future with a German commander. He says to her, "Miss Ten Boom, when all this is over men will live together as Aryan brothers in our Reich." His eschatology was very clear. It was rooted in Fascism and so-called racial purity. It is the hope that many still have, though their ideology may be widely divergent from that of the Nazis. The hope is that somehow humankind can create a brotherhood that will unite all men and women into a new state of purity and light.

Corrie answered, as a Christian should always answer: "Men live together as brothers only in the Kingdom of our Lord."

Reflections from Gladys Aylward on Evangelism

Rebecca Pippert always inspires me to do evangelism better. Her book, Out of the Saltshaker, is one of the classic modern books on the subject. I urge my graduate students, as well as all my friends, to read it. Becky has been a good friend to me for several years and inspires a great deal of respect in me. I believe that she understands what James Denny meant when he once said "Our evangelists ought to be theologians and our theologians ought to be evangelists." Becky recently sent a letter to her friends that included this moving story that I share with you, my readers. She writes:

Upon reflection I realized that Gladys Aylward’s style of evangelism illustrates the holistic approach we seek to teach in Salt Shaker Ministries:

First, we must: Get the Story Straight! We must understand what we believe because it is our message that impacts our methodology. We hear that all we need are “deeds not creeds.” But deeds aren’t enough! Further, it’s our creeds that inspire our deeds and protect us from heresy. Gladys was respectful of the Mandarin’s beliefs yet she wasn’t afraid to point out the profound differences between their faiths. In our current experiential age let’s not dismiss truth as dry and boring, for as Dorothy Sayers once wrote: “the dogma IS the drama!”

Second, we must: Get the Story Out! We must recognize that all mission is Incarnational and relational. Gladys Aylward followed Jesus’ example and moved into the neighborhood! Her faith-sharing style involved careful listening; it was dialogical, interactive and process-oriented. She identified with the Chinese in all ways possible without compromising the truth of the gospel itself. That’s the tension: to be radically identified while maintaining our radical difference.

Third, we must: Live the Story Well! Aylward not only preached the gospel - she lived it. She sacrificially did something about every injustice she witnessed: prison reform, child abuse; misogyny and poverty. When the Japanese invaded China and she was forced to leave, she embarked on the seemingly impossible task of leading 100 orphans on a 12 day trek over the mountains to safety. For the Mandarin - as well as scores of other Chinese converts - it was both hearing the gospel proclaimed AND seeing it lived out that eventually won over their hearts. They needed both - not one at the expense of the other.

Fourth, we must: Pray God’s Story In! Aylward had a powerful prayer life. She knew how to walk in the Spirit. She understood that only through constant prayer and complete dependence upon God could the Kingdom be advanced.

Gladys Aylward’s life reminds us that all true evangelism flows from faith - and faith comes, in part, from understanding what we believe. Our witness to Christ must be reflected in our being (character that matches our claims), our words (without a verbal witness how will they hear the gospel or know the source of our joy?), and our ways (when we address the wounds and injustices around us we are showing that God’s redemptive purpose stretches to every area of life).

Check out Becky's site for some great resources on evangelism. She really gets it right and can hep many of you a great deal.

Commitment to the Poor

A good friend, who is a pastor and is also solidly Reformed in his theology, has convinced me that concern for, and commitment to, the poor is a true mark of the church. I have suggested, elsewhere, that mission is the “fourth mark of the church.” This means, using standard historical terminology, that there are five marks of the church: (1) The gospel (2) The sacraments (3) Discipline (4) Mission (5) Commitment to the poor as a priority of the church community.

This link to a story in the United Kingdom is priceless in this regard. Check it out and you will be stirred by it if you have any real concern about the church and its commitment to the poor among us.

A Letter from the Chairman of ACT 3

Dear Friend of ACT 3,

I am writing to you as the chairman of the board for ACT3, the teaching ministry of our mutual friend, John H. Armstrong.

I suspect that your interest in John’s ministry is similar to my own. You are concerned about the state of the church in our generation and in our nation. You too recognize that the American church has become spiritually apathetic, theologically ignorant, and culturally indifferent to the mission of God. You further recognize that the current state of the church is nothing short of a crisis thus you believe, as I do, that God still uses men to challenge and confront His church in such a time as this. I believe that John is just such a man who has been called for our time. It is for that reason that I have pledged my support to this man and his ministry.

As you may know, summer is the slowest season for raising funds essential to the maintenance of this or any other ministry. This fact, coupled with growing concerns over the economy, has placed ACT3 in a serious financial shortfall this month.

Our present financial situation is critical so I am humbly asking you, on John’s behalf, to prayerfully consider a gift over and above your regular giving. If you have never made a financial contribution then I would also ask that you consider partnering with us in this work, either through a one-time gift or by becoming a regular monthly partner. This link will take you to the Web site where you can easily make a donation that is secure.

Your contribution will help further this work and ministry. You can give a one-time gift or become a friend of the ministry through a regular monthly gift. Any gift will be greatly appreciated and put to good use.

I realize that there are many good ministries and organizations to support. However, there are few, in my opinion, so committed to addressing the first causes of the church’s weakness quite like ACT3.

Please bring this appeal before the Lord and prayerfully seek what he would have you do on behalf of John and this ministry.

Yours in Christ,

S. Michael Craven

An Orthodox and Protestant Dialog, Pt. 2

St. Nikon of Optina, a 20th century Orthodox figure, wrote: "Read the Holy Gospel, be penetrated by its spirit, make it the rule of your life, your handbook; in every action and question of life, act according to the study of the Gospel. This is our only light of life."

Every evangelical Protestant I know should be quite willing to agree with this statement. It was the basis for my engagement with Father Jon Braun, who openly referred to himself as an "evangelical." He also made it very clear that the Orthodox Church, which he believes to be the true church in historical perpetuity with  both St. Peter and St. Paul, needs to continually recover the gospel and be truly evangelical in the most radical sense. My purpose in such meetings is to encourage this kind of gospel renewal in the entire catholic Church. I believe it is happening in parts of the Orthodox Church so I am very happy to engage with such brothers, to the end that I can truly learn and I can share the ministry of grace and the Holy Spirit richly given to me.

Readers must understand that in the Orthodox Church no saint, bishop or theologian is ever seen as infallible. Many of the greatest thinkers of the church have been wrong and the Orthodox Church is willing to say so. Tradition is important in Orthodoxy but it is never viewed as a separate source of light of truth apart from Holy Scripture.

In our dialog I asked Father Braun: "In our respective traditions we have differing conceptions about the identity of the church. But we both agree that everyone living under the lordship of Christ, through faith and genuine repentance, is somehow a part of the church. How do you explain this with your view of the church?'

His answer was to say, in effect, that the Orthodox Church is the true and historically faithful church in terms of its continuity with the apostles. This means it is the Church. Yet at the same time Fr. Braun admitted that there were mysteries that went beyond what we understand and this was one of them. He did not employ the Vatican II idea of "separated brethren" (a concept that I do not read in Orthodox literature). He did point to Great Schism of A.D. 1054 and say that the Church, East and West, was clearly divided and the East remained faithful to the truths of the holy tradition and Holy Scripture. Thus, dealing with Protestants like me, is a different issue since our heritage is in the Western tradition. In the end Fr. Braun clearly believed I was a Christian and thus, in some way that could not be completely explained, in the Church.

This answer puts off many non-Orthodox Christians. It does not put me off personally. So long as you understand what the Orthodox are saying, and so long as they are willing to receive me as a Christian (even though not able to receive the eucharist in their church context) I can live with this present tension and continue to work for a better and brighter time. I do know that men like Jon Braun know I am of the same faith and thus I was treated that way in our dialog and private discussion.

I think it is safe to say that the Orthodox Church has never had to answer this question of "separated brothers and sisters" the way Rome has done in the West. In time I expect there will be movement the more Orthodoxy engages their brothers and sisters in the West outside of their cultural enclaves. This is why I have concluded that the Antiochian Church offers so much to the ecumenical and missional dialog that I have been led to engage personally.

An Orthodox and Protestant Dialog

Last Friday, June 6, I engaged in a two-hour dialog with Fr. Jon Braun, a priest in the Orthodox Church. The event was planned by Chris Criminger (see photo on right), a pastor in the Christian Church who has a deep desire to see all Christians advance the kingdom of Christ through loving each other and then listening to one another in contexts where mutual respect and charity reign. The host church was All Saints Orthodox Church in Bloomington, pastored by Fr. Peter Jon Gilquist.

Jon Braun was a national coordinator for Campus Crusade for Christ in the late 1960s and served on staff with Campus Crusade from 1960 until 1969. He related, in his opening remarks, how he and Fr. Peter Gilquist, also a leader in Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC), had lengthy discussions in the late 1960s about the Church. After many hours of discussion they decided, rightly I believe, that they could not fulfill the Great Commission, the stated passion of CCC, unless they brought disciples into the Church and this included all the imperatives of the well-known Great Commission text in Matthew 28:19-20. This led them, after some time, to begin what they called the Evangelical Orthodox Church in America. In time they would all be welcomed into the Antiochian Orthodox Church when Metropolitan Philip received them in 1987, after they had been rejected by the Orthodox Church in America. Give them credit. This was no fly-by ecclesial search. They patiently pursued union with the historic church until they were finally accepted. The rest of their story is known to many who have followed them into the Orthodox Church out of a virtually non-ecclesial evangelicalism.

When I was first asked to have this dialog with Father Braun I was a bit nervous. As the time grew near I became much more at ease about the opportunity. It was a marvelous opportunity for me to learn and to listen, as well as to say some very positive things about my own Reformed evangelical and Protestant ecclesiology and faith that are not commonly understood. The group that attended this event was about half and half, Orthodox and evangelical Protestant. The questions were exceptional and the dialog was superb, or so I thought. There were three cameras going and thus I hope to have a video version of this event soon.

We both began with a ten minute presentation about our spiritual journey. I told how I grew up in a Southern Baptist context in a small town in Tennessee. The principle influence in shaping my life and faith were my parents, particularly my mother, who was a great Bible teacher. From there I was also powerfully touched by Campus Crusade for Christ at the University of Alabama, 1967-69. It was there that I first heard Jon Braun speak in person. Then I transferred to Wheaton College (1969-1971) where I got a B.A. in 1971 and then an M.A. in 1973. My life was profoundly shaped by the student revival movement of 1969-70. I too began to think a great deal more about the church and about how I could relate my life to the church in a meaningful and deeply thoughtful way.

After many years as a Baptist pastor, and then the president of ACT 3 since 1991, I felt it was time to bring my ministerial life under the care of a Reformed classis, or presbytery. I was eventually received into the Reformed Church in America, via the Illiana Classis, in 2007. This course followed a journey of some years.

I noted that I was uncomfortable with the designation evangelical in many contexts. I would much prefer to refer to myself as a classical Christian of Protestant and Reformed persuasion. I noted that I had recently seen a video of Jerry Falwell, in 1980, where he was saying there were three things that he wanted to do as an evangelical: (1) Get people saved, (2) Get them baptized, and (3) Get them registered to vote. I noted that this definition of evangelicalism fit me in no way at all, though I agree with all three if I can define the terms. The problem lies is in the minimalism and the emphasis of Falwell's statement. Any Christian wants people saved and baptized if they truly follow Jesus. Registering people to vote, though it has nothing to do with discipleship per se, is an important act of Christian citizenship, though seriously misunderstood by Falwell in my estimation.

When the time came for Fr. Jon Braun to ask me three specific questions he wanted me to comment on: (1) The danger of experientialism in evangelical Christianity, (2) The strongly political tone of American evangelicalism and its mistaken association with the Christian right, and (3) The near absence of any emphasis at all on the way personal salvation relates to the corporate salvation of Christ’s Church.

Happily I could agree with all three of his criticisms without serious reservations. I thought to myself, “If these were our real differences then we could easily become a part of the same visible church.” I knew better. The differences between us are considerable and we would still have to deal with some of these in the format that had been arranged for our dialog. I will refer to more of the agreements we shared, as well as the differences we discussed, in a subsequent blog.

The "Aura" Campaign and the Kingdom of God

Daniel Henninger reflects on the Democratic Primary in today’s Wall Street Journal. He employs a phrase, with regard to Barack Obama’s campaign, that I think will stick with me profoundly during the coming months. He says that Barack Obama is running “an aura campaign.” He sees it as a speech-making candidacy, a JFK candidacy, the “promise of another Camelot.”

On Monday, in Indianapolis, Obama noted in a stump speech what will likely remain the central way he speaks about himself until November: "I believe that this election is bigger than me or John McCain or Hillary Clinton. It's bigger than the Democrats versus Republicans. It's about who we are as Americans." If that’s true then this election is as big as it can get. It is a defining moment election in American history! It is, in Obama’s dreams at least, an election that will determine who we are as a nation and where we are going. At best this is sheer hyperbolic rhetoric.

My problem with this rhetoric is simple. I’ve heard this before, especially from the left. But in recent elections we’ve also heard it from the right, especially the Christian Right. I don’t buy any of this for one moment. I do not think the winner of this election is that important to our collective future. America can survive either one of these two candidates.

Chalk my response up to age and my firsthand experience of past campaigns since 1960, to my deep-seated cynicism about the claims of political messiahs left and right over nearly fifty years, the constant refrain of the dire predictions of gloom if one person doesn’t win, etc. But I am not buying "aura" from any candidate.

The question is simple: “Will the voters buy into an aura campaign?” My sense is that they will. If the economy remains stagnant and the war in Iraq continues to be reported as it is now being reported, Obama will likely win in the end. But then what? How will he govern? He tells us that he can unite but his record doesn’t prove this at all. He is a man who seems to genuinely enjoy dialog with people who differ from him, a very positive trait in an age of “destroy the opponent” politics. But can he create coalitions and truly govern? We simply do not know. He has no record either way. What we do know is that he has this “aura” about himself that makes him very attractive to many, especially to the very young who are hungry for real change and see him as the man of the hour.

I have only one prediction. If Obama wins he will not be as bad as some think he might be nor as successful as his zealous followers hope. In time he will prove that he is not a messiah and then what?

My prayer is that the youthful zeal shown for Barack Obama might be captured for something far less passing, namely the eternal mission of the kingdom of God. That will not happen until Christians learn how to speak the gospel, and then to live it in community, more faithfully. This is especially true for this new generation. I will be watching various rising prayer movements among the young much more than electoral movements among the them in the coming months. There is some evidence that such prayer movements are growing. I pray: "May they become a conflagration of true spiritual fire!"  What we need is true spiritual awakening, nothing else will change things as we know them. 

Billy Graham Still Amazes Me

Billy Graham is now a private person whose ministry to the masses is over, at least his direct personal ministry. His work will go on and his voice will likely reach multitudes for ages to come. Dr. Graham has demonstrated time and again the power of a credible and Christ-centered life. He is not without flaws, and some of his mistakes are well-known. But he has remained humble and charitable since the 1940s, which is a whole lot more than I can say for most leaders in the Church.  I count it a privilege to teach in the Billy Graham Center and thus I often think about this man and his legacy when I go in and our of the building names after him.

Billy Graham has preached to over 210 million people in person. He has spread the gospel through radio, television specials, films, books, magazine articles and newspaper columns and interviews. Dr. Graham says that if he had it to do over again he would have studied much more than he did. Yet this man, who is not a great theologian in any sense, is very wise about the things that truly matter.

I recently wrote four articles on divine providence. You would not think of Billy Graham when it comes to this subject but then I discovered this quotation:

The Bible teaches that this world is coming to a crisis, and just beyond that crisis is judgment. But thanks be unto God, our God has never face a crisis! Nothing has ever taken God by surprise. God has never come to a time of panic. He has always followed a perfect program. Satan has never frustrated God's plans not hindered His cause in the course of the ages. Our God is sovereign and in Him is all sufficiency. This is our message.

I have heard more than one Reformed critic say, "Billy Graham is confused about the sovereignty of God." Well, maybe, and maybe not. He is not a rigid confessional Calvinist but I challenge you to find a better simple, easy to comprehend, statement on God's sovereignty than this one.

The Heavenly Man

The Heavenly Man was awarded the Christian Book of the Year in 2003 in Britain. The title comes from the name by which Brother Yun was known amongst the house church networks. He gained that name from one night of interrogation when he would only answer "I am a heavenly man!", instead of revealing his true name, in order to protect other Christians from the police.

Released in February 2003, the book was co-written and translated by Paul Hattaway and published by Monarch Publications, a United Kingdom publisher. The Heavenly Man has sold nearly a million copies in less than five years. I came across it several years ago and it had a profound impact on my heart and mind at the time. At the end of this amazing book, some of which I still question myself, Brother Yun tells of how he suffered intense persecution, in the form of Christian opposition, since he came to the West seven years ago. He has lived in Germany since 2001. An Internet search will reveal the depth and magnitude of this controversy, which apparently still rages. 

Brother Yun claims both extreme persecutions and miracles of deliverance similar to the ones found in the Biblical narrative. Despite a life of poverty in China, he since has spoken to thousands internationally, maybe even millions, with the gospel message. Seen as a rebel among some Chinese for not joining the "official" government-controlled Christian organization (The Three-Self Patriotic Movement), he was imprisoned and tortured by the government authorities. His book claims that he became a highly wanted man across several provinces. He was finally arrested and sentenced to many years in prison. However, Yun continued his ministry while in prison, with more claims of miraculous results. As a result, many prisoners, and even some prison officials, reportedly became born-again Christians. Apparently, while he gained increasing favor from some officials, he also became a target of increased persecution by others. He tells in the book how he was repeatedly beaten and became severely malnourished. He says that while in prison, he undertook a total fast without food or water for 74 days. This is the part of his story that seems a bit difficult to accept but I would never deny its possibility.

The Heavenly Man tells how, after many years in prison, Yun escaped from Zhengzhou Maximum Security prison from which it is reported that nobody had previously escaped. He describes how he heard the voice of the Holy Spirit, telling him to simply walk out the heavily guarded prison gate. Risking being shot to death on the spot, he wrote later that he obeyed the voice, and walked straight through several prison doors that were somehow left open in front of many prison guards, across the prison yard and finally out of the main gate. Yun stated that it was as if he had become invisible to the guards who stared straight through him. Although many expressed doubts that such a thing could happen, some prison guards had apparently lost their jobs for this "embarrassing mishap.'" It is reported that the official investigation by the Chinese Government concluded that "Yun received no human help in his escape." It is claimed by the book, and the publicity since its release, that these reports have been also confirmed by numerous prisoners who occupied the same prison cell as Yun. Apparently, he remains the only person to have escaped from this notorious maximum security prison.

Brother Yun continues to serve from his new home in Germany. His ministry has expanded around the globe. As a leader of the "Back to Jerusalem Movement," Yun seeks to send thousands of missionaries out from China into the least-gospel-reached countries of the world, most existing between China and Israel.

A second book by Brother Yun is to be released in July by Zondervan. Given all the controversy about the first book I am immensely impressed that Zondervan will publish this book. As a Zondervan author I know how much they work to make sure they get things right. Zondervan says that the new book, Living Water, will share the vision of one of China's most dedicated, courageous and intensely persecuted house church leaders. Brother Yun’s dramatic life story and teachings offer a message that inspires and challenges Christians to live out a passionate commitment to serve Jesus Christ.

Living Water is advertised as a compelling saga of one man’s sacrifice to bring Jesus and the Bible to non-believers. Through his dynamic teachings, Brother Yun shares a message of radical trust and authentic Christian discipleship to churches around the world.

Using the message of the Bible and interweaving it with stories of life-changing faith, Living Water will distill the wisdom of this courageous Christian man who suffered intense persecution for his beliefs. Brother Yun challenges Christians to go deeper in their faith, and become bold in their witness for Christ. He shows how God can make you as bold as a lion, and bring your days as a timid Christian to an end.

The book of Acts continues today in the lives of courageous believers like Brother Yun. An inspirational challenge to deeper discipleship, Zondervan says Living Water will offer moving stories of struggles and victories, miracles of grace and mountains moved.

If you have not read The Heavenly Man get it and read it. Then do the Internet search and see what both critics and friends have to say. I look forward to reading Living Water with real anticipation. I expect my Western lifestyle and views to be challenged deeply and personally.