The Colbert Report: Meeting Suffering with Faith

Dear Crosswalkers,

Stephen Colbert is the often irreverent and controversial funnyman who hosts his own show on the Comedy Central Network entitled "The Colbert Report" (pronounced "Colbear Repoor"). He seems to be a political liberal who dons the persona of a politically incorrect political conservative for laughs, and he gets a lot of them! Here is his lampooning of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous "I have a Dream" speech:

Dr King envisioned a day when the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners, could sit down together at the table of brotherhood. For a feast of plenty. I believe that day has come. And what I wanna know is... what will we have for dessert? I can't speak for others, but for my own part... I have a dreamsicle! [Holds up a popsicle].  Mr King saw the South sweltering with the heat of oppression! Well, what better way to cool off than with a frozen... tasty confection? I have... a dreamsicle!

He's a funny guy! Sometimes, however, his sense of humor is derisive and disrespectful,  and loaded with a heaping helping of sarcasm. Knowing this, I was pleasantly surprised to read that the New York Times Magazine ran a story about the faith of Stephen Colbert on January 4 of this year. Here's a portion of what the article says:

In 1974, when Colbert was 10, his father, a doctor, and his brothers Peter and Paul, the two closest to him in age, died in a plane crash while flying to a prep school in New England. "There's a common explanation that profound sadness leads to someone's becoming a comedian, but I'm not sure that's a proven equation in my case," he told me. "I'm not bitter about what happened to me as a child, and my mother was instrumental in keeping me from being so." He added, in a tone so humble and sincere that his character would never have used it: "She taught me to be grateful for my life regardless of what that entailed, and that's directly related to the image of Christ on the cross and the example of sacrifice that he gave us. What she taught me is that the deliverance God offers you from pain is not no pain— it's that the pain is actually a gift. What's the option? God doesn't really give you another choice."

Wow. His mama taught him that the deliverance God offers is not the absence of pain, but the recognition that pain is a gift! Sometimes it is not only the best way but the only way to bring us to the place where he wants us to be. This is why Alexander Solzhenitsyn thanks God for his suffering in the Gulag, and Chuck Colson thanks God for his time in prison. They recognize that those painful situations were God's gift to them!

The apostle Paul wrote:

God said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.  That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

May God grant us the grace to accept painful situations as gifts with a purpose!

Blessings,

Pastor John

The Kingdom of God is Forcefully Advancing!

Dear Crosswalkers,

In Matthew 11:12, Jesus said, "And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing..."  In its entirety, this verse is controversial. At least this first part indicates that the Kingdom of Heaven is advancing on earth in a forceful way against the powers of darkness. The powers of darkness oppose God's Kingdom in a host of ways: Political opposition, cultural antagonism, religious hostility, demonic oppression, relational intimidation, unbiblical prioritizing, inner fears, etc. Honestly, the list goes on and on. Yet in spite of opposition, Jesus says the Kingdom is forcefully advancing!

As promised, here are two exciting mission updates. First, you may recall that last May Crosswalk sponsored an International Leadership training event for pastors from Bhutan and northeast India. The focus was on the Bhutanese pastors, who live in an officially Buddhist country that is closed to Christian witness. Open expressions of Christianity are illegal, while private worship is allowed. Yesterday, I received an email from K.C. (initials only), one of the leaders who attended the training event, asking for prayer for the first ever National Youth Conference in Bhutan. This will take place over the next two days - January 20 and 21. Here is his request: 

We are focusing on praying for Bhutan, King and the people. Please pray that there will be revival and out pouring of God's Spirit. We also pray that God will bring a breakthrough in our Nation. On this 2 days of conference youth from all Bhutan will join together and intercede for our nation. Few of our full sessions are focused on praying and outpouring of God's Heart in our Nation. Also pray that there will be unity and oneness in the Churches in Bhutan.

PLEASE JOIN ME IN PRAYING FOR THIS EVENT OVER THE NEXT TWO DAYS!  This is an exciting and forceful advancement of God's Kingdom in a closed country in which Crosswalk has had a powerful influence! Additionally, missionary Peter Pereira has invited us to return this year for another training event for even more Bhutanese pastors! The first event was such a success that now more pastors are clamoring for another one! Please pray that God would provide for us to respond to this awesome opportunity!!

A second forceful advance of the kingdom is occurring in prisons in Paraguay. God blessed our time there with several teaching opportunities. In addition to teaching on Christian Leadership among the leaders of the Christian prisoners in Tacumbu prison, Angel Hernandez and I were able to have some powerful interviews with key prisoners who shared their testimonies. I hope to share some of these over the next couple of Sundays. The kingdom is forcefully advancing! That means there is spiritual warfare and collateral damage. No one ever said the mission of Jesus would be easy. However it is, praise God, richly rewarding. It has results that will reverberate through generations and last through all eternity! THANK YOU FOR YOUR PART IN HELPING CROSSWALK ADVANCE GOD'S KINGDOM! 

Blessings,

Pastor John

Why Christianty is Losing America

Dear Crosswalkers,

It is good to be back home again!

This week I have so much to share that I will bother you with two of my pastor "weekly" emails. This one is simply to remind you that this week at Crosswalk we are beginning small groups again. Last night a couple groups met on campus, and this evening we will have three more. You are invited to be a part of one of them! I will be leading a study on Christian Worldview and Ethics entitled "Doing the Right Thing: Making Moral Choices in a World Full of Options." I am really looking forward to this Study, which will be a combination of information sharing and discussion. Other classes include God as He Longs for You to See Him, led by Dave Stokes; and 8 Week Health Challenge, facilitated by Sharon Welty. Our Youth will embark on a study at Starbucks, and the Children will discover "Friends and Heroes, Part 2." There is something for everyone! Please join us for dinner and fellowship from 5:30 - 6:20, and the classes start at 6:30!

It is always fascinating to see things through the eyes of others. In a recent article ("Why Christianity Lost America" - a title I stole and slightly revised to reflect more accurately that the story isn't over yet!) Vishal Mangalwadi, a Christian scholar from India, shared his perspective of what is happening in America today. He writes:

In November, 2011, I visited two classes at a Christian university in North America. I asked both: "How many of you would still believe Christianity if you found out tomorrow that Christianity was not true. That is: God never became a man; Jesus did not die for our sin; or, that he did not rise from the dead?"

Twelve hands went up in [the class of about 25 students]. These sincere and devout students had grown up in Christian homes, gone to church all their lives, and studied in Christian schools. Some had been in that Christian university for three years! They respected their elders who taught them that Christianity was all about faith with little concern for truth.

Christianity lost America because 20th-century evangelicalism branded itself as the party of faith. Secularism (science, university, media) became the party of truth. This is one reason why 70 percent of Christian youth give up meaningful involvement with the church when they grow up…. Secularism acquired the "truth" brand by default because evangelicalism began defining the Church's mission as [just] cultivating faith, not [also] promoting knowledge of truth.

At Croswalk, we are committed to the biblical teaching that FAITH and TRUTH always BELONG TOGETHER! That's why we study, take classes, and are committed to growing as disciples of Jesus. Christianity hasn't lost America... yet. But I believe America will be lost if we don't keep faith and truth together. I hope to see you tonight!

Blessings,

Pastor John

Where Dignity is Conferred

Dear Crosswalkers,

Greetings from Paraguay! Thank you so much for your prayers, as this week we have had triple digit heat this week while teaching in a decidedly non air conditioned prison. To put in politely, Angel and I were perspiring profusely. In more colloquial terms, we were sweating like stuck pigs! Cameras are no longer allowed in Tacumbu prison, except possibly on Fridays. Hopefully I can get some photos then. Above is a photo of REMAR director Pepe with Angel, and Tacumbu prison is in the background. In addition to two teaching sessions, we also tested the water in the prison and provided two clean water filters. We also had some wonderful meetings with the Christian leadership within the prison. The teaching sessions have all been on Spiritual leadership, Servant leadership, and on Friday we will look at Transforming leadership. Tomorrow we will visit another prison that has opened up to Angel's ministry.

I promised a second book review in this week's posting, so here are some nuggets from a book that may be of primary interest to only people like me. The book is Eugene Peterson's spiritual autobiography entitled The Pastor: A Memoir. Of course I was blessed by his thoughts of what it means to be a pastor, but more pertinent were his thoughts on what it means to be a congregation, a church, a family of God. Here are some quotes from the author's nearly 30 years of experience pastoring the same church:

Before anything else, church is a place where a person is named and greeted, whether implicitly or explicitly, in Jesus's name. A place where dignity is conferred... If the life of David that comprised prayer and adultery and murder could be written and told as a gospel story, no one in my congregation would be written off.  For me, my congregation would become a work-in-progress - a novel in which everyone and everything is connected in a salvation story in which Jesus has the last word!

Isn't that a great description of church! It is my prayer that at Crosswalk Church would be a place where dignity is conferred, and where for each of our life stories, Jesus has the last word!

Blessings,

Pastor John

There's Something to be said for...

Dear Crosswalkers,

We just returned to civilization after 3 exhilarating days at a "dude ranch" of sorts in the savannah like interior of Paraguay. This included a 36 plus hour "fast" from the internet and all things electronic (except for my Kindle for book reading!).  There is definitely something to be said for taking a break from the electronic gadgets and incessant data from the internet that fills the brain with a lot of this-worldliness. Between horseback ridings, swimming with the grandkids, game playing with adults, I managed to read two books (one that I started before the trip). Again, there's something to be said for relaxed reading time to feed the mind!

The first is A First Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness, by psychiatrist Nassir Ghaemi. I am very interested in leadership principles, and this  book was a fascinating look at the link between great leaders and mental health struggles, particularly mania and depression. While the author betrays his left leaning bias, he nonetheless presents some very interesting material, mostly of leaders in the past 80 years. Here's a summary statement:

"The best crisis leaders are either mentally ill or mentally abnormal; the worst crisis leaders are mentally healthy... As we have seen throughout this book, the greatest leaders are often abnormal, even flat out mentally ill. We should accept, even celebrate, this possibility. Being normal is great in a friend and a spouse and in one's daily life; but leaders of nations and armies and businesses are faced with tasks and crises that no one else faces in normal life. For abnormal challenges, abnormal leaders are needed."

The four key elements that mentally unhealthy leaders (that is, those who suffer non debilitating bouts of depression and mania) bring to a crisis situation are these: Realism, Resilience, Empathy, and Creativity. To my mind these are excellent qualities in any leader, and the Bible clearly supports this. The Bible's way of conveying realism is to speak of the truth; of resilience is perseverance; of empathy is compassion; and of creativity is in the promise that followers of Jesus have the mind of Christ and that we are led by God's (creative) Holy Spirit. To these four qualities of leadership the author surprisingly adds a fifth: humility! He writes: "The Jewish philosopher Maimonides once said that if one can only learn to say, 'I don't know,' he will prosper." There is something to be said for cultivating these qualities in our Christian life!

Regarding the great yet troubled leaders surveyed in this book, such as Sherman, Lincoln, Churchill, Gandhi, Kennedy, and King, the author concludes:

"Their weakness is, in short, the secret of their strength."

Of course, the apostle Paul knew this two thousand years ago. Here's what he writes about God's response to his plea to take away a weakness in his life:

Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.    - 2 Cor 12:9-10 (NLT)
There's something to be said for trusting the grace of God to work best in our weaknesses, whatever they may be!  Next week I'll share about the second book I read!

Love in Jesus from Paraguay,

Pastor John