Live fully in the community God has designed for us Part 4

You can read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, and Part 3 here.

Today, an expert in the law tests Jesus, but it's the disciples and the expert who get schooled.

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Luke 10:25-29

Wanting to justify himself, the expert in the law presses his luck with one more question. With an upraised brow and a smug little smile he asks Jesus to clarify – Who is my neighbor? A short story, an unexpected hero, and a rhetorical question later, Jesus awaits the expert's answer. “The one who had mercy on him,” he answers correctly, if not begrudgingly. For the word Samaritan never crosses his lips.

The Good Samaritan by Vincent van Gogh

Most regular Bible readers acknowledge a strong animosity between Jews and Samaritans because of a vague notion that something happened in their shared history. Here's a brief accounting: 

In 722 BC, the Assyrians destroyed the land of Samaria, then occupied by the kingdom of Israel. The king of Assyria resettled the land with people from Babylon and other nations who worshipped other gods to replace the Israelites (2 Kings 17). Eventually becoming a racially and religiously mixed nation, Ezra rejected their help to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 4). Insulted by the snub, the people of Samaria build their own temple on Mount Gerizim. (Remember the conversation between Jesus and the woman at the well in John 4?) Resentment deepened between Jews and Samaritans in 128 BC, when leader and High Priest, John Hyrcanus invaded Samaria and destroyed their temple. Not to be outdone, a century later, the Samaritans defiled the Jerusalem temple with dead bodies. 

Suffice it to say, by this time, the Jews and Samaritans despise each other. And in the opinion of the expert in the law, Jesus' good Samaritan would have sounded like an oxymoron.

Yet, it's not only the expert in the law who needs to hear this story – to rethink and reconsider the question, Who is my neighbor? Not hardly. Luke strategically places the telling of this parable after an unfortunate interaction with his disciples in the previous chapter.

The Good Samaritan by Paula Modersohn-Becker

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them. Then he and his disciples went to another village. Luke 9:51-56

Soon, Jesus will give his disciples a mandate to go into all the world and preach the good news everywhere. Everywhere? Jesus can't even trust these guys to go to a neighboring village. Want to flunk Missionary Training 101? Threaten to kill foreigners who reject Jesus.

For now, Jesus directs his disciples to another village. Not to protect himself from the Samaritans, mind you, but to protect the Samaritans from his disciples. No wonder Jesus recounts the parable of the good Samaritan in the next chapter – his own disciples needed its lesson, too.

Sometimes I wonder, How was it possible for the disciples to sacrifice everything for Jesus, learn from him daily, love him wholeheartedly, and yet harbor racist attitudes? I don't know. It seems impossible to hold such contradictory beliefs and behaviors in tension.

Then again, I also wonder, How is it possible for Christians today to pray fervently, give generously, worship extravagantly, and yet despise the stranger, fear the foreigner, hate the immigrant, and be inhospitable to the refugee? I still don't get it.

As Christians, we long for that day when every tongue, and tribe, and nation will sing his praise, yet we reject the humility, the courage, and the kindness necessary to create an environment to live that reality presently. In the process, we forfeit God's design and God's community to our own detriment. It's not as if God left us powerless to complete the task he set before us. Or is the day of Pentecost just a fond memory for the Church?

I made a promise a few weeks ago to prove to you that living in the diverse community God has designed for us is essential to our health as the body of Christ. I haven't forgotten. Return next week for the final installment. Until then, let's remember ...

When we care for the stranger, love the foreigner, embrace the immigrant, and welcome the refugee, then we can begin to live fully in the community God has designed for us. 

A Pentecostal Countdown

We just returned from our District Council where we had the opportunity to listen to one of the greatest missionary speakers, Dr. Greg Mundis (the Executive Director of AGWM), preach on Pentecostal Empowerment. I loved it when he said, "God's plan is an incarnate witness," because I've been preaching this all year: 

The Spirit of Pentecost is the Spirit of missions and the Spirit of missions is relational. God entrusts his message with his people, God empowers his people with his Spirit, and then he sends them to go into all the world because missions must be incarnational. It must be relational.

Christ's compassion and hope motivate us to engage our community, but the Spirit of Pentecost empowers us to go and make disciples. Stuart and I are returning to Mexico City because the Spirit of Pentecost has empowered us and because missions is relational.

As Roger Stronstad has said, Pentecost "is not just a spiritual blessing; it is a responsibility." In other words, a true Pentecostal embraces the missional command of Jesus to send, to go, and to make disciples.

I feel like I've posted this photo a gazillion times now. Well, here's to a gazillion and one because only 10 days remain to gather all our funds in at AGWM and receive financial clearance to return to Mexico City. 

We are so encouraged by how so many of you have responded. Hardly a day goes by without a pastor calling to say they received a special offering for us or an individual emails and writes they prayed for us and then dropped a check in the mail for our work account. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you. You are making the climb to the top of the Itineration Pyramid possible. If you would like to join the journey with us just click here. If you prefer snail mail, just send your offering (with our name and account # (251128) in the memo line) to: 

AGWM 

1445 N Boonville Ave 

Springfield, MO 65802

Thanks again and let the countdown begin! 

Spring 2015 Newsletter

What did that sign say?

Encountered the presence of God, friendly faces, and lots of encouragement this past week during our travels.

Big thanks to Pastors Harley and Karen Kolterman for inviting us to share ministry at My Father's House, and a lovely meal with great conversation afterwards.

Looks like a sign from God to me :) 

Trusting the Lord we are in our final weeks of itineration and we'll be packing our bags and changing our address soon. 

Saturday evening, Stuart and I enjoyed ministry and fellowship with Pastor Illis Perez and her husband Jacob at Fort Wayne First Assembly's Hispanic service. For the first time, Stuart and I translated for one another. Stuart shared his powerful testimony and I preached on Pentecost and missions. 

I got to tell you, there's nothing better than worshiping God in Spanish! Especially with the likes of Nancy Honeytree and this fabulous worship team.

Last Wednesday we headed over to Lowell First Assembly with Pastor Scott (and Brenda) Weinkauff. We always appreciate the fellowship, prayers, and conversations that accompany itineration. That's what makes it worthwhile.

Another sign from God! 

It's time to go, people. Please partner with us today so we can raise the last 10% of our budget.

Let's make a difference together to proclaim release to the captives of drug addiction and to set at liberty those who are oppressed by the sex trade! 

Thank you for your support! 

He Gave Them the Spirit (Part Three)

He Gave Them a Meal (Part One) He Gave Them a Cross (Part Two)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1.8

“This passage,” expalins Ajith Fernando, “shows us how important the Holy Spirit is to our understanding of mission and how important mission is to our understanding of the Holy Spirit.”


As I mentioned in previous posts, Jesus gave his disciples a meal to explain his impending death. He gave them a cross to express the exacting cost of living for the kingdom. Now Jesus promises to give his disciples the Spirit to empower them for his mission.

So we see, God’s mission and God’s Spirit are irrevocably intertwined. And as Ajith Fernando reminds us above, we cannot truly understand the mission of God if we do not appreciate the importance of the Holy Spirit in that mission. And we cannot truly appreciate the Holy Spirit if we neglect the mission he empowers us to be a part of. A read through the book of Acts confirms that the purpose of being filled with the Holy Spirit is to empower his disciples to preach the word of God everywhere and in all circumstances.

As the Spirit of Pentecost empowers God’s prophetic community for mission, so the Spirit of missions is relational. God entrusts his message with his people. God empowers his people with his Spirit. Therefore, missions must be incarnational; it must be relational.

As a missionary, may I be so bold to proclaim that there is no substitute for sending real people into all the world to bring God’s message by his Spirit, because the message we need to share is this: God is reconciling the world to himself through Christ. Therefore like Christ, our ministry and our methods must be incarnational; they must be relational. Nothing less will do. As his disciples we have the responsibility to be incarnate with his message and empowered by his Spirit to go into all the world.

Although it is tempting to believe that Jesus’ commission to all nations is a new development in the missio Dei, it is not. The mission of God has always included the nations beyond the called and faithful remnant. It has always included reaching out with compassion and hope to the poor, the captive, and the oppressed. What is new is the promise of power to all believers (regardless of social status, nationality, age, or gender) to expedite the mission.

This power though, is not the consequence of an inanimate energy source, but rather the manifestation of the Spirit of Christ. No less than the abiding presence and power of the Holy Spirit is adequate to accomplish this exceptional mission to all nations.

To accept the gift of the Spirit as they did at Pentecost and throughout Acts necessitates an intentional missions objective, for the purpose of Pentecost is to clothe believers with power to be witnesses to all the nations. For a believer to claim to be filled with the Spirit and yet have no inclination for the mission of Jesus simply makes no sense.

Today, if we want to be a part of God’s missional, prophetic community – to be empowered by his Spirit to send and to go and to make disciples – then once again let us ask God to fill us with his Spirit. But to ask for the baptism of the Holy Spirit intrinsically implies that the recipient of the gift will accept the mission, the method, and the power to go to the ends of the earth!

Ajith Fernando, Acts, The NIV Application Commentary, Zondervan: 2009, Kindle Edition