Not the book, but rather the real deal.

As I read one of the persecuted church testimonies in my latest edition of the Voice of the Martyrs magazine, one quote really caught my attention. The story was about three women who were imprisoned for allowing Muslim children to attend their Christian Sunday School program. They served 2 years of a 3 year sentence, and when released, they continued their ministry by constructing a bunker 10 feet underground where they could host their SS in concealment. The VOM articles says, “Children who attend the class wear T-shirts that say, ‘Ready or Not, Jesus will come. I am ready. What about you?‘” Lukas, the husband of one of the women, declared, “In Indonesia Christians have to be extreme or we will turn into ice cream.” What a great word picture and stinging indictment! I’m sure that in comparison to believers such as these, even in my extremest moments, I am closer to ice cream than I am anything else.

Bible and Mission ~ Richard Bauckham

Though New Testament Theology isn’t the field that I read as widely in as others, I still try to expose myself to as much of it as I can since it came in close second to being my Ph. D. minor behind Reformation Studies. And reading Richard Bauckham is one of the highlights of engaging the wide-world of literature on the NT.

Bible and Mission: Christian Witness in a Postmodern World sounds like the title of just another cookie-cutter monograph on how to relate the gospel to postmoderns; thus, you’d expect the author to cover the usual topics like absolute truth, relativism, objectivity, the unchanging essence of the gospel, evangelism methods, and so forth and so on. However, when you see a title like the one above attached to Richard Bauckham’s name, then you know better than to expect the ordinary.

Although I haven’t quite finished his book yet, Bauckham has presented material relating to the theme of mission in the Bible in a way that I’ve never really heard before. Maybe that shows how little I’ve read on the biblical theology of mission, nonetheless, I have already grown in my knowledge of the mission focus of God’s Word in leaps and bounds. This type of theological fruit is even more telling since Bauckham’s book began as a series of lectures and even now only boasts about 120 pages.

The brief selection below was part of a section that was just as informative as it was striking. To have the ability to write with such an exegetically-driven mind and a theologically-informed heart, Bauckham provides the reader with some very exciting reading material. Here he is discussing the broad topic of universals and particulars with respect to God establishing his divine relationship with Israel (the particular) in order to make his name known to all the nations of the world (the universal) so that all peoples might partake in his redemptive covenant. In this case, Bauckham is showing how the biblical witness manifests this truth through the concept of blessing and curse. I won’t explain it any more than that. To do so would be to undermine the force with which the passage below should come across, not to mention how my efforts would dull the enjoyment of the eloquence of his interweaving all of these major themes together:

Through the story of Israel curse continually accompanies blessing (e.g. Deuteronomy 7:12-16; 27-28), but the ultimate goal of God’s promise to Abraham is the blessing that will prevail over the curse. It does so when the seed of Abraham, the singled-out descendant of Abraham, the Messiah, becomes ‘a curse for us . . . so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles’ (Galatians 3:13-14). It is in this light that Paul can call the promise of Abraham that the nations will be blessed the gospel (Galatians 3:8). The secret of the promise is the bearing of the curse so that the blessing may prevail. The gospel is that in Jesus Christ the curse has been set aside and God’s creative purpose for the blessing of his creation is established beyond any possibility of reversal. God’s last and effective word is his blessing. It is a particular word, spoken in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, broadcast by those who like Paul cannot but pass it on, so powerful is its effect, overflowing with blessing from those who, blessed by it, become a blessing to others (35-36; emphasis mine).

Well, Kim and I made it safe and sound to the Carolinas. Right now we are staying with her parents in Wagener, SC, and later this evening, we are going to be making our way with them to Myrtle Beach where we will be staying til Saturday. Woo hoo! Still, to her family’s amazement, I brought a mini-library with me so that I could keep my reading going. You can never coast. Plus, I don’t want to give Bret Rogers a chance in catching up with me on knocking out books on our Ph. D. reading bibliographies. Nonetheless, I have little time to read what I brought as well as time to blog. But I wanted to squeeze this one in real fast.

I’ve been reading Francis Schaeffer’s third book, Death in the City, which has proved to be just as profound and prophetic as his other works. This was the case before I even reached the chapter that I want to share with you today. In Death in the City, Schaeffer includes chapter 5 which is called, “The Persistence of Compassion.” As I began reading its contents, I was at once touched and ministered to by Schaeffer’s thoughts and encouragement regarding the necessity for a messenger of God (based upon Jeremiah’s situation) to continue in compassion towards those whom God has ordained for his message to reach despite the fact that his words always seem to fall upon deaf ears or that persecution is always what seems to follow obedience to God as his faithful ambassador.

Have you ever been discouraged in doing the Lord’s work? I can testify to this from some very real examples having served in two difficult church positions where I felt like a voice crying in the wilderness. But, although the circumstances are so costly and sometimes can be quite harmful in many different areas of your life such as your health or even your marriage, there is a waking feeling deep down that keeps you coming back for more. Compassion. Love. Brokenness. If you are a believer, then there ought to be an unending reservoir of mercy and compassion in your heart towards those who had not heard nor heeded God’s Word for repentance.

Schaeffer cites Jeremiah 15:10 as an example of a heart discouraged as result of struggling for the Lord among a people who will not turn from their wicked ways, “Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land. I have not lent, nore have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me.” In response to Jeremiah’s lament, Schaeffer wrote, “I am glad Jeremiah said that, because I have known discouragement too. And if you are being faithful in your preaching and not just opting out, in a culture like ours you too will experience times of discouragement (82).”

However, don’t misunderstand Schaeffer’s reply. The emphasis is not on the discouragement, but rather that the discouragement is a sign that you are actually waging war for God. The purpose of this chapter is not to validate discouragement in the believer’s life. Instead, what Schaeffer wants to show is that if you can’t identify with Jeremiah’s lament as a prophet of God, there’s a good sign that maybe you aren’t preaching his Word at all. Schaeffer goes on to share,

And you say, how can a man of God be discouraged? Anybody who asks that has never been in the midst of the battle; he understands nothing about real struggle for God. We are real men. We are on this side of the Fall. We are not perfect. We have our dreams, our psychological needs, and we want to be fulfilled. There are times of heroism as we stand firm and are faithful in preaching to men who will not listen. But there are also times when we fell overwhelmed (82).

It is definitely a heroic feeling to resolve as a young preacher that you are going to go to the small churches who have been abandoned for larger church scenes, or that you are going to go overseas where no man has gone before. But it is a much different experience once you have arrived and your story never becomes something worthy of a movie script for the masses. However, God uses the reality of these situations to get our minds and hearts right. We are to preach. We are to herald his coming. We are to call all men everywhere to repent. And these demands have nothing to do with whether or not people will turn and obey. Yet there remains the fact that we still should be looking out over the people with heart-wrenching compassion as we long to see them awake from their blindness and see Jesus Christ, the light of the world. Again Schaeffer adds:

It is possible to be faithful to God, and yet to be overwhelmed with discouragement as we face the world. In fact, if we are never overwhelmed, I wonder if we are fighting the battle with compassion and reality, or whether we are jousting with paper swords against paper windmills (83).

I hope these words have ministered to you in some way. I know that Schaeffer’s admonitions gripped my heart in this chapter, especially in light of having some familiarity with his life and the radical persistence he had in showing compassion to endless amounts of people, never failing to preach God’s Word. It can be hard sometimes. Let’s not try to be super-spiritual and deny this fact. But as ministers of God, we must press on in faith, content in obedience to God’s will, even when we rarely see any fruit from our labors. Ultimately, our peace and satisfaction must be found in him, and we will be quick to find that our joy in him will sustain us when happiness in others is lost.

And what is Schaeffer’s final words to this chapter? “Keep on, keep on, keep on, keep on, and then KEEP ON!”

Just a few days ago I was sent an email via The Voice of the Martyrs sub-ministry, Prisoner Alert, that one of the imprisoned believers whom they intercede for and encourage others to write letters of encouragement to, has finally been released. The freed man is Pastor Abraham Bentar. He has an incredible testimony which you can read on his profile located at Prisoner Alert’s website. But, in a nutshell, on March 7, 2006, he was attacked by Muslims in West Java who destroyed his van and attempted to burn him alive. Thankfully, the police stepped in and originally detained him for security purposes. However, he was subsequently charged with blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad, and was sentenced to 4 and 1/2 years in a local prison Tasikmalaya.

Recently, VOM contacts in Indonesia informed representatives that Bentar had been released last week on parole. He served 2/3 of his sentence but was set free early. It is a joy to see prayers for his release answered, but it is also a joy to know that so many believers from around the globe were able to encourage this “prisoner of the Lord” while he was behind bars. According to Prisoner Alert’s statistics, Bentar’s profile has been viewed 16,700 times, and over 2900 letters of encouragement were sent his way. Praise God!

I still encourage all of you to become involved with this simple and cost-free ministry to our brothers and sisters who are in chains for the sake of the gospel. Prisoner Alert just about does all the work for you in terms of phasing and translation. All you have to do is print out your letter and mail it. Let us rejoice with the Bentar family and pray that the Lord will continue to use his life in amazing ways for making Christ known in the hard places among the hard peoples. Would you commit to writing one Christian prisoner with me this month?

As most of you know, Kim and I contribute to the Voice of the Martyrs ministry in two main ways. The first is the BiblesUnbound ministry where we aid VOM in smuggling Bibles to underground Christians. The second is through their Prisoner Alert ministry. Periodically, I receive emails from VOM that request us to help spread the word about the reality of the persecuted church and Christian prisoners all over this world. On Prisoner Alert’s website, you are able to view the profiles of numerous incarcerated brothers and sisters in Christ so that you may be able to intercede on their behalf more intelligently as well as write them a personal letter in their own language.

Today’s featured prisoner is Li Mei. I know the picture is hard to make out, but that is the only one that VOM had to offer. She is 42 yrs old, and in 2007 she was captured along with 9 other house church leaders because they were discovered having Christian worship services and showing the Jesus Film. She spent the first part of her sentence in a hospital handcuffed to the bed. Those imprisoning her continued to beat her and torture her to the point that she was forced to have a hysterectomy. She is currently in prison in China and needs your prayers.

Would you consider writing her a letter through the Prisoner Alert online resource? The only things you have to pay for are the envelope and postage. A very small price to pay, I might add too, for sending a fellow believer a priceless letter of love and encouragement. This is an invaluable ministry and an incredible opportunity for us in the States to be more hands-on in serving the family of God abroad. I hope you will.

Currently, I’m reading Richard Wurmbrand’s autobiography which retells his suffering under the Communist regime called, Tortured For Christ. In case you are unfamiliar with who Wurmbrand is, click on his name above and it will link you to a brief biography. In Tortured For Christ, Wurmbrand recounts his imprisonment for the Lord in detail which occurred during the 1950s-1960s. When he was released in 1965, he immediately wrote Tortured for Christ, and subsequently became the founder of the Voice of the Martyrs ministry.

Near the beginning of the book, under the subheading “Unspeakable Tortures,” Wurmbrand comments on Communism’s atheistic foundation. Insightfully, he fully recognizes that their atheistic worldview gave them the ability and permission to perform such inhumane actions on the Christian prisoners such as beating an imprisoned pastor’s fourteen year old son to death right before his eyes, handcuffs with nails which ripped to shreds their wrists, and being repeatedly frozen almost to the point of death in large freezers (34-35). At one point, Wurmbrand remembers that the soldiers would cry out as they punished the Christian prisoners, “We are the devil (35)!” With respect to my recent posts on the “New Atheism” movement, I thought Wurmbrand’s personal comment on it, produced by his own experiences from its hand, would prove to be prophetic in illuminating the inevitable path in which we will all be led down if this “religion” triumphs in America, whether forcefully or willingly.

Wurmbrand reflects on his torturers’ atheism:

It was in vain. They are materialists. For them nothing besides matter exists and to them a man is like wood, like an eggshell. With this belief they sink to unthinkable depths of cruelty.

The cruelty of atheism is hard to believe. When a man has no faith in the reward of good or the punishment of evil, there is no reason to be human. There is no restraint from the depths of evil that is in man. The Communist torturers often said, “There is no God, no hereafter, no punishment for evil. We can do what we wish.” I heard one torturer say, “I thank God, in whom I don’t believe, and that I have lived to this hour when I can express all the evil in my heart.” He expressed it in unbelievable brutality and torture inflicted on prisoners (36).

Back in August, I expressed in a brief post my plea for as many of you who were able, to join with Kim and I in sending out New Testaments to our brothers and sisters in the Lord who are located in hostile enviornments. Most of the recepients of these NTs are underground church members, and ultimately, there is no guarantee that God’s Word won’t be intercepted before they make it into the hands of the ones to whom the envelopes are addressed. However, being able to aid our faithful Christian brothers and sisters in Christ who are in persecuted areas, shut off from access to any Christian literature whatsoever, is an amazing opportunity to help spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the nations and to be an encouragement to them.

This past Sunday (Nov 11th) was the official International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Our church, Redeemer Church, structured the entire morning worship service around this emphasis. In addition, we had a visiting Voice of the Martyrs representative share in the place of our pastor, Tim Presson. His name was Matt Rose. I will not in any way try to reduplicate the inspiring and moving presentation which he delivered that morning, but I only mention it to say that, at the close of his talk he plugged the Bibles Unbound ministry. So, I only offer my voice in total agreement and support of this incredible ministry opportunity.

Matt said during his presentation that for every 1 Bible that is sent to the persecuted church, there is an estimation of 5 people who in turn come to salvation in Christ. Though I am fully aware of the fact that statistics are not absolutes, this one in particular was of great encouragement to me, and it furthered my ambition to continue sending God’s Word out each month.

Today’s “Psalm of the Day” in my sidebar says, “Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your dwelling (Ps 43:3)!” Throughout the Scriptures, both light and truth have been used to describe God’s Word (Ps 119:105; Jas 1:18). May we be instruments that he uses to send forth the light and the truth of his gospel so that the Great Shepherd of the sheep will lead more of the lost flock into his eternal pasture where they may dwell with him on his holy hill forever. In Ps 43:4, the psalmist continues, “Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.” Please pray and consider contributing to this sub-ministry of VOM. You can do it for as low as $30 a month. Now, listen to a brief testimony from Tom White, president of VOM concerning Bibles Unbound:

This man, whom VOM refers to as Evangelist Daniel, is a pastor in Indonesia. In April of 2007, he and 40 other Christian leaders were arrested and imprisoned for simply praying, “Father we pray for the leaders of the madrassa, so their hearts would be open for gospel.” This intercessory prayer, which was offered up on behalf of the Muslim community, has caused Pastor Daniel to be sentenced to 5 years in prison.

We must remember our brothers and sisters who are in prison (Heb 13:3). Last month, I mentioned the situation of Mr. Son and appealed to you all to get involved with Prison Alert, a ministry of Voice of the Martyrs, which keeps track of certain Christians who are imprisoned for their faith and allows you to write letters to them as well as government officials pleading for their release. This ministry is new to me, but I have found it extremely important and an incredible opportunity to be a part of and minister to the body.

In light of my past posts on “Theologians Who Are Ready To Die (Parts I and II),” when I received an emal from Prison Alert asking me to write Pastor Daniel a letter and to spread the word, I just couldn’t help sharing this with you all. Please check out their website and write Evangelist Daniel a letter of encouragement and grace. It is very simple and all you have to pay is postage. A small price to pay to lift up a brother in Christ, especially compared to what those in Hebrews 10:34 gave up:

“For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and abiding one.”

~ Hebrews 10:34 ~

Thomas gets a bad wrap. He has been treated with such contempt in lectures, Bible studies, sermons, and books to the point that no matter how hard we may try, we just can’t let it go that he had to put his fingers and hands in the wounds of Jesus’s resurrected body. As if we would have been any different? I believe that’s part of the problem of why we have such a hard time interpreting John 11:16 when Thomas boldy says, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Commentators wrestle with this text and end up on one of two sides. Either Thomas’ statement is sarcastic in reference to the death of Lazarus or he is genuinely speaking on behalf of the disciples, courageously calling himself and his brothers to go to their deaths along with Christ. With reference to Christ, Calvin regards Thomas’ statement as “inconsiderate zeal” and exposure of his despair. However, I think that this interpretation is incorrect.

Textually, there is little evidence that supports the former view. What I believe happens is that we read Thomas’ so-called “doubting” in Jn 20:24-29 onto Jn 11:16 without letting his words speak for themselves which were voiced prior to his actions in Jn 20.

As I was dwelling upon some of the things that I revealed in Part I of this post, I couldn’t help but draw immediate connections to this scene in John 11. I wanted to include this information in Part I, but I realized that what my wife and friends say about me is regrettably true, I am long-winded. Plus, I try to submit myself to the prose of the blogging world and allow some room for writing off the cuff. Therefore, what I sit down and intend to write doesn’t always make the cut and other things fill their slots.

So, how does the narrative in Acts 21 compare to John 11?

In Jn 11, Jesus is told of Lazarus’ death and he responds, “Let us got to Judea again (11:7).” The disciples were not in full support of his decision. They replied, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again (11:8)?” Their reservations are grounded in the events of Jn 10 where the Jews sought to stone Jesus after he declared, “I and the Father are one (10:30).” In 11:9-15, Jesus reassures the disciples that they have nothing to fear, for his sake or their own, at this moment, and he explained that his traveling back into the “lion’s den” was necessary for their belief and his glory. Thus, Thomas’ words in v 16, though still produced by misunderstanding, reveal his undivided loyalty to the Savior, that if death awaits Jesus in Judea, then death awaits he and the disciples as well. Therefore, despite about what we know of the future events in the rest of John’s Gospel, it appears that here, Thomas was ready and prepared to die with and for Jesus Christ.

In Acts 21, Luke portrays in detail Paul’s journey back to Jerusalem. In 20:22, Paul discloses to the Ephesian elders, “And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit . . .” Later in this text, Paul testifies to the fact that he was fully aware that “imprisonment and afflictions” could very well be waiting on him in that city. Yet, he tirelessly presses on. In 21:12, after the prophet Agabus prophesied Paul’s forthcoming chains, Luke tells, “When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem.” Sound familiar (Jn 11:8)?  And then Paul responds, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (21:13).” The Apostle Paul, though counselled otherwise by his company, is resolutely ready and prepared not only to be imprisoned, but also in the same way as Thomas, to die for the Savior’s name.

Both narratives show a situation where Christ and Paul are headed back in the direction of Jersusalem, and are in known danger at the hands of the Jews. And, in both cases, their followers tried to deter them from marching onward, for sincere but misguided reasons. And finally, both accounts show the absolute resolve and faithfulness of the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, insofar as they were ready and prepared not only to go and die with him (in the case of Thomas) but also to die for him (in the case of Paul).

These texts show us in a unified manner that true disciples of Christ must be willing to lay down their lives when our journey with the Lord takes us down that path. We must follow him to whatever end. Missonaries, pastors, laymen, Christians in the secular work-force, and yes, even theologians, must be ready to lose their lives so that it may be saved. May we all say together as we follow Christ on this earth with Thomas’ exhortation, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Are you ready? If not, then pray that the Lord will prepare you.

“As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

~ Romans 8:36-37 ~

A friend and I were talking this morning over breakfast and were discussing our quiet times, current studies, and future studies (Ph. d options). I was sharing with him that a weakness of mine is that I tend to be a legalist at times concerning the amount of time that I set aside for my quiet times and also how much I accomplish during that time. Hence, when I fail in spending adequate amount of time in Bible study and prayer, I interpret it as how I really feel about the urgency and importance of my relationship with the Lord rather than my certain lack of discipline or willpower. I confessed that this spills over into my school studies where I try always to keep in mind the question, “What kind of disciple does the Lord want me to be?” The way that I study and my work ethic at school to me is an interpretation of just how seriously I take being a minister and servant of the Lord Jesus Christ and his gospel.

But, am I exempt from living like the knife is on my throat or the cross on my back just because I spend my free time reading Kevin Vanhoozer or Hans Frei instead of praying over Operation World three times before the sun sets? Of course not. There’s not a different call upon the theologian’s life that at its base level is not equivalent to the one who is out there dying on the frontlines. Jesus’ words have summoned all that have chosen to follow him to “deny himself and take up his cross and follow me (Mark 8:34).”

I think that, unfortunately, scholars and theologians inadvertently receive a “get out of persecution free card” and therefore, we allow ourselves to casually fall out of the martyrdom mindset that Jesus calls us all to which he clearly expressed by using the imagery of one carrying his cross in Mk 8:34. No one carries a cross for any other reason than to be crucified. As I was talking with Bret this morning, I made a comment that has stuck with me all day. Though I didn’t quite word it this way to him, what has consumed my thoughts today can be summed up in this way: I know what kind of theologian the Lord wants me to be, but what kind of disciple is the Lord desiring this theologian to be?

I’ve been reading through Acts during my quiet times and was greatly impacted by the Apostle Paul’s response in Acts 21:13 to the pleading and weeping of his co-laborers about returning to Jerusalem. He says, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

What immediately ran through my mind is that here is a man who has all of the theology a human could ask for, but his love is for the church, the gospel, and the glory of God in Christ. So much so that, he walks willingly right into the death trap. Now, let me just clarify, I am fully aware that Paul’s personal calling entailed a great amount of suffering. Still, should our mentality and attitude towards our service of the Lord be any different? For goodness sake, here is the man who wrote Romans, Paul’s theological masterpiece which theologians over the centuries have drooled and mined over, yet even with a mind like his, he is more than ready to lay down his life.

I want to be a theologian who is ready to die. Who is ready to be imprisoned. Maybe in America one day? The world is definitely changing and it’s only a matter of time. I do not want to by any means belittle the theologian’s task, however, I never want to diminish the reality that Christ has called me to walk in his footsteps. I realize that my time on earth may not lead me to the gallows or firing range; still, I must labor day in and day out preparing my heart and mind to be ready for imprisonment, even death for the name of my Lord Jesus Christ. Unashamedly, I want to be the absolute best theologian I can be, but I want to be a theologian, most of all, who is ready to die for the God of whom I am striving so diligently to know and proclaim so well.

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”

~ 1 Peter 4:12-13 ~