El Salvador Trip Notes

 

 
 
 



Thank you to everyone who prayed for our team while we were in El Salvador last week.  It was an amazing week of ministry.  There are so many who have gone before us that set such a great foundation.  Through their efforts the Lord blessed our trip and we are eternally grateful for their work.  Here are some thoughts and recap from our trip.

The Team
I went with a team of 15 members from 3 churches in South East Missouri with ages ranging from 13-68.  By God's grace our team had amazing chemistry even though we did not know each other very well before the trip.  I have been on a lot of teams and trips overseas but this by far was one of the best "team" experiences I have ever had.  There was no complaining or whining (even when we lost power at our hotel and when our schedule kept changing).  There was flexibility and humility.  Most of all there was joy and excitement to be able to serve the Lord.

The Training
It was difficult for me to break away from the group each day but the main reason I went on this trip was to train El Salvadorian Pastors in the Old Testament.  We met Monday-Wednesday from 8AM-4PM and Thursday from 8AM-12PM and worked through the Pentateuch.  We spent time during the introduction to the Old Testament to talk about the structure and order and how Luke 24 shows us how Jesus read the Old Testament.  Then we spent a lot of time in Genesis.  Genesis is so crucial because of the foundation it provides the rest of the Bible and typically we read through it quickly or assume we "know" it and we miss the structure and patterns that then keep reappearing throughout the Bible.

It was a challenging task teaching all day and using an interpreter but it was so worth it.  The pastors were hungry to learn and showed great signs of taking in and being able to process and apply what we discussed.  The pastors also had great questions and reflections and we had to park on several texts and theological issues.  It was a blessing to be able to show them how true 2 Timothy 3:16 is and to wrestle with the difficult texts found in the Pentateuch.

The Church Plants
Churches in our association here in Missouri have begun partnering with church plants going on in El Salvador.  This trip our teams were able to visit these locations and talk with the pastors about how we can help them going forward and in some areas they were able to evangelize and minister to the surrounding villages.  We got great feedback and ideas going forward to help plan for future trips with specific needs that those teams can meet.  This is huge as the nature of trips will be transitioning from how they have gone in the past to how we can help in the future.  We were able to worship at the church plant in Apaneca one night and spend the day evangelizing in some surrounding villages and saw a great need for a VBS team to come back and not only run a VBS but also train the members in Apaneca how to have a successful  children's outreach ministry.

Church Services
Apart from one night at Apaneca, we spent each night at Santa Catarina for church services.  We had a team that ministered to the children doing various teachings, puppets, crafts, and singing.  We also had a group lead the youth a couple of times (even though they were only given a few moments notice that they were going to minister to the youth) and the rest of us did panel discussions with the adults.  The panel discussions led to incredible discussions and questions.  Issues such as identity, spiritual gifts, marriage, idolatry and etc were brought up in our discussions.  You could tell that great strides were being made each night we had these discussions.  They normally went very long and we would have to end the discussions, even though they could have kept going.

The People
Again our team was amazing but it was also so encouraging to see brothers and sisters in El Salvador.  I remembered many who I had met in November and we were able to work with amazing translators and pastors while there.  Roberto (the main translator) quickly took our team under his wing and was a great source of information, entertainment, and was the glue that kept us all together.  It was a privilege to get to know the pastors while in training and the pastors of each church we worked with.

Fun Day
On Friday our team broke up and some went shopping in A Taco and the rest of us went Zip Lining in Apaneca.  The Zip Line was an awesome experience and there were some amazing views of the mountains, coffee plantations, and the city of Apaneca.  After meeting the rest of the team for lunch in A Taco we went to a Mayan ruin for the afternoon.  It rained...no it poured on our way to the ruin and several us in the back of the pick-up truck we were in got soaked.  It was still raining when we got to the ruin so we did not stay long but it was very interesting looking into the history and technology of the Mayans.

El Salvador Trip

This Saturday I will be heading to El Salvador with a group of 15 members representing three different churches from South East Missouri.  We would greatly appreciate your prayers for us while we are there (June 7th-14th).  I will be teaching Old Testament Survey to about 20 pastors who have begun the Bible Center Training for Pastors while others from the team will be visiting schools and doing door to door evangelism in the town of Apaneca.  Each night we will also be visiting with churches in the area for fellowship and training.  

Please pray...

1. That the Lord would bring glory to His name through our trip

2. That the Lord would open doors for evangelism in homes and in schools

3. That the Lord would save those who we share the gospel with

4. That the Lord would encourage and strengthen pastors while they are being trained

5. That the Lord would grant us endurance (Endurance to teach, endurance to listen and learn, endurance to share in schools, homes, and churches), strength, and health. 

6. That our team would have safe travels to and from El Salvador and safety within the country. 

7. That our team would have unity and humility as we serve. 

8. That our families at home would be protected while we are away. 

Lord willing, I will make a few posts while on the trip and a follow-up post once back home.

You can also follow along on facebook here.  

    

Evangelism and PROOF

I have recently finished reading two great books.  Evangelism by J. Mack Stiles and PROOF by Daniel Montgomery and Timothy Paul Jones.  I received both for free at the conferences I attended in Louisville in April.

Evangelism by J. Mack Stiles, Crossway, Wheaton, IL, 2014 $14.99

       Evangelism is part of the 9Marks series on building healthy churches.  Each book in the series is an extension from Mark Dever's book Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. Dever's book is very helpful and I am thrilled they have continued to expand upon his original work.  J. Mack Stiles does not present a new method of how to do evangelism.  This is not FAITH 2.0 or EE 2.0.  From the foreword (by David Platt) and throughout the book it is clear that Stiles is arguing for a "culture" of evangelism that does not rely on programs, events, projects, and professionals (14).

After the Foreword and Intro Stiles Has five chapters and an Appendix. In chapter one Stiles argues that "...the Bible never uses results to guide or justify evangelistic practices"(24).  The point of evangelism is not to be good at a method.  It is to be faithful to communicate the message.  God can overcome bad evangelism or methods because it is the message, the gospel, that ultimately bares fruit.  Evangelism is defined as "teaching the gospel with the aim to persuade." (26)  Christians should persuade but not manipulate.  Churches should engage but not aim to entertain.  Stiles then defines the gospel and explains the urgency of why getting evangelism right is so important.  He says"Unbiblical evangelism is a method os assisted suicide for a church, so there is much at stake in getting evangelism right." (39)

In chapter two explains how to create a culture of evangelism where every church member is active in naturally haring their faith.  In chapter three Stiles ties the culture of evangelism to the church and how having a correct ecclesiology helps create a culture of evangelism.  Next, in chapter four Stiles argues for intentionality in our evangelism and how is should be considered a spiritual discipline for all believers.  Finally, in chapter five, Stiles offers examples of how each Christian can be a true Ambassador for Christ.

Stiles work is right on point.  It is convicting, to the point, and filled with great illustrations.  A great resource for pastors and laymen.  I pray that not only my church, but churches everywhere will cultivate a culture of evangelism.

PROOF by Daniel Montgomery and Timothy Paul Jones, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 2014 $16.99

       I received copy of PROOF at Band of Blogger 2014 in Louisville, KY and I am so happy I did.  Jones and Montgomery have written a significant work about a significant topic at a very significant time.  PROOF is all about grace.  In fact PROOF is an acronym for planned grace, resurrecting grace, outrageous grace, overcoming grace, and forever grace.  The authors open with a chapter about the works based mindset that we all are born with and struggle to fight against even after coming to faith.  They state "at the root of every man-made deity and every human religion is the notion that our performance can achieve some sort of negotiated settlement with a Holy God." Therefore PROOF is "an alarm clock that awakens you from the delusion that life depends on you and frees you to discover the intoxicating joy of God's wild and free grace."

Chapters two through six then go through each point of grace.  Instead of following the acronym TULIP to describe the doctrines of grace the authors follow the Synod of Dort (A response to the false teachings of Jacob Arminius).  The strength of each chapter is the careful walk through the Scriptures (and particularly feasting on Ephesians) and how well each chapter is written.  PROOF is filled with great examples and illustrations from both authors.

The jewel of the book for me was chapter seven,  titled "Grace for Life."  In this chapter the authors walk through the reformation, the response to reformational teaching by Jacob Arminius's followers (not Arminius himself), and the rebuttal by pastors at the Synod of Dort in 1618.  The response to the heresy of the followers of Arminius did not represent new truths.  Many church fathers had already advocated these truths well before the reformation.  The idea of the TULIP did not develop until 1905 when a Presbyterian pastor in Brooklyn chose the flower to make the teachings more rememberable.  The problem with the acronym is that language and changes were made that had nothing to do with the decisions made at Dort.  It comes across as harsh in both the view of man and of God because of the language used.  The authors rightly reject the flaws and the false theology that can come from extreme views of the TULIP (i.e. Hyper Calvinism).  But they whole heartedly agree with the decisions made at the Synod of Dort.

Calvinism is a very hot topic right now.  Some for good reason and a lot for bad reasons.  PROOF is a great work that provides balance and understanding to the history of the debate and how and why it has caused issues now.  The authors state that "the point of PROOF is...to point you away from Calvinism-or, perhaps more precisely, to push you away from Calvinism as a system and toward the gospel of God's grace."  To this I say AMEN.  The authors provide several charts and graphs to describe the prevalent views of grace right now and how each other view is wrong.  Again, this chapter, this book is very helpful. The disunity and the controversy over this topic seems to come from parties who do not have balance.  One party over emphasizes God's sovereignty, the other party over emphasizes man's responsibility. Balance is needed.

What the Synod of Dort and PROOF push is the Scriptures, not a system of rational or theological statements.  The more I read the Scriptures the more these truths of grace become evident.  God is indeed completely sovereign and yet man is also responsible.  What we need now is balance and PROOF is a great step forward to balancing God's sovereignty and man's responsibility.  Those turned off by Calvinism will benefit greatly by carefully studying this work (they provide great appendices and 'proof' texts).  On the flip side those who are extreme in their understanding and proclamation of Calvinism will greatly benefit as well.

I whole-heartedly recommend every believer pick up PROOF and glean from the wisdom and great exposition of these two authors.  I pray this work will bring unity (especially within the SBC) and enlightenment to the truly amazing and irresistible grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

Great Posts from Moore and Tchvidjian

"..the gospel ought to drive us to ask for, and to receive, forgiveness from one another."

Dr. Russell Moore's Reflections on Tullian Tchvidjian's Apology

I agree with Dr. Moore's summary that the argument was more about "emphasis" than "substance." Moore has great thoughts on the issue of forgiveness. I love when he says "But then we remember that we’re Christians. And nothing makes us look weaker than crucifixion. Let’s love one another, and forgive one another."

In other words...forgiven sinners forgive. It's not easy to apologize and it's equally as hard to forgive. Christians are called and will do both.

You can read Tullian's apology here.

Praise the Lord for forgiveness and reconciliation.




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How and I doing? Nine Heartfelt Remarks from Pastors and Church Members

Thom Rainer posted two really good posts last week about pastors and church members. And feedback between them. Sometimes there can be a great disconnect between pastors and their congregations.  I am sure there are a number of factors that cause this disconnect (cultural and age differences etc) and Rainer in these two articles does a great job of trying to bridge the gap.

As a pastor I want to be as transparent as I can be (for better or worse) as I lead. I ask for and I welcome feedback and would appreciate any of your thoughts after reading these two articles. I can identify with a lot of the points from Pastors to Church Members. Especially #7 "Please don’t criticize me or ask me to do something right before I preach." How about you (pastor or church member) what points can you relate to?  Read both articles. How am I doing (CM to Pastor)?
Nine Heartfelt Things Church Members Would Like to Say to Their Pastors

Nine Heartfelt Things Pastors Would Like to Say to Church Members

Basketball with Dad

I love sports.  Watching, playing, even talking about sports.  I prefer football as an adult, played a lot of baseball when I was younger, and dabbled in soccer and basketball.  Anyways...

Nowadays I live next to several indoor/outdoor basketball courts.  I'm not very good or graceful but there is something relaxing about shooting hoops and free-throws.  As a pastor my mind is always running...and usually at high speeds.  Basketball is a good discipline to simply clear my mind.

Basketball has also become a great training tool for raising my children and particularly my boys.  Deuteronomy 6 makes it clear that we are to be training our children day and night.  So tonight, my oldest son Andrew (5) is using my full size basketball (too heavy for him) and trying to make into the elementary hoop on the playground (about 8ft).  I have been guilty in the past of celebrating when he makes a goal and correcting his form or effort when he missed.  Andrew is a perfectionist but also loves to celebrate victory and often cries if he loses. Tonight...he didn't make one shot.  He came close.  But no net.  The difference tonight.  No tears.  After each miss I encouraged him to keep trying and after each try I told him how proud of him I was for trying.  30-40 misses later, I hugged him and celebrated him as my son.  He smiled from ear to ear.  He kept trying not to earn my favor.  He kept trying because he knew he had my favor.

Pauls says in Galatians 4:4-9

"4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. 8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?"

Christians are adopted as sons.  We were slaves! Now we are sons! We were enslaved to sin but now we know God.  He knows us and we have his favor.  Therefore when he calls us to walk in the good works that He has prepared beforehand for us (Eph 2:10) we do it out of joy because we are not earning favor with God. What disciple(s) are you not walking in? In what ways are you trying to earn favor instead of walking in the favor that was earned for you? Your not called to perfect living. You are called to obedient living.  There will be days like today where you miss everything...and the Father wraps His arms around you and says "I love you...son."

  

Knowable Word: Helping Ordinary People Learn to Study the Bible

In Knowable Word, Peter Krol has written a very short, readable, and reproducible book on the most important topic of study there could ever be: The Bible.  I am confident that biblical illiteracy is a major reason for church declines over the past decade or so.  Many people think that the Bible is foreign or irrelevant.  Even worst, a lot of church goers think they know "enough" of the Bible because they know some of the key verses.  Krol encourages his readers to not be afraid of the Bible and to read it...A LOT!

The strengths of Krol's work is the approach and examples he gives the reader. He writes as if you are in his office or meeting with him over coffee for discipleship.  Through the book he goes through Genesis 1:1-2:3 using the inductive study method of Observation, Interpretation, and Application.  A long the way through the process of breaking down the text, looking at key weds, repetition and etc, Krol gives forms and outlines that the reader could easily and quickly adapt to help them in their studies.  Even better yet, Krol has a whole website/blog dedicated to the the to topic of the book that can be found here. 

My favorite line from the book is "God’s knowable Word smashes like a jackhammer and repairs like a blowtorch. It rips us apart and puts us back together. It identifies exactly what is wrong with the world: me and you. It shows us the solution: Jesus. It gives us hope that we can break the patterns of brokenness and replace them with more life-giving options. Let it speak to the details of your life."  The more we read the Bible the more we are changed which is why I encourage this book for any Christian who needs a refresher or a beginning approach to studying the Bible.  

No book is perfect of course.  Krol does give an example of how Genesis 1 was basically applied to his life.  Though not wrong, I disagree with some of the conclusions and observations he has on Genesis 1 and the way it applies to us today.  I also would have liked to see more emphasis given to the meta-narrative or overall story of the Bible as a way to help readers begin to read and understand the Bible.  He briefly mentions it in the last chapter but it is more of an after thought.  Finally, though Krol does encourage his readers to read the Bible a lot I felt that he put the bar too high and then provided little direction.  Which then, in the end, may discourage his readers from even trying.  He could have encourage a progression of reading long chunks of Scripture and then given direction on how to read the Bible with the "Big Picture" in mind, but in this work he primarily stinks to the OIA method instead.  

Again, any work on helping people understand and read the Bible is worth reading so I do recommend that you read this work and more so I pray it encourages you to read the Bible more.  

It's Worth the Effort!