Oh the joys of man and woman. Ashley and I love how much we have in common, but we also love how much we are different. We get a good kick out of failed communication. Take this story, for instance.
It was a Friday morning, and I had received a package in the mail that Ashley had not opened yet because it was made out to me. So while Ashley was making breakfast, I was sitting at the table opening it. It was a Christian magazine, so I started perusing through it. We had her iPod on shuffle as background music, and we were talking about the day.
Suddenly, she says, with some sense of hurry, "Do you know what it is?" I was a little taken aback at her urgency, and I pause. I say, "Yeah," while she is laughing and saying, "You don't know what it is!" Still clueless, I say, "Yes I do, it's a magazine." She pauses, looks confused, and then bursts into laughter. I begin to laugh too, even though I don't know what in the world she's laughing at. Finally, she says, "I was talking about the song!"
Apparently, a Beatles song came on the iPod while we were talking, and she was seeing how quickly I could name that tune. I was on a completely different page thinking she was asking me (with some strange urgency) if I knew what was in the package. We laughed heartily for a few moments (during which I correctly labeled the song--Octopuses Garden) and then sat down for breakfast.
Oh the joys of husband and wife!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Global Missions: God's Passion.
I recently subscribed to a magazine called "Mission Frontiers". It is a publication of the U.S. Center for World Mission, and organization founded by the late Ralph Winter in 1976. It is a magazine that carries Winter's vision of sending missionaries to the "unreached people-groups" (a term coined by Winter). The latest publication, the May-August edition, is a tribute to Winter that includes a short biography, testimonials of his family and friends, and articles about how Winter impacted lives.
One of the articles was written by Tom Steller, the pastor of leadership development at Bethlehem Baptist Church (where John Piper is the senior pastor). This article had a special impact on me. Here are some excerpts:
"...During the summer of 1983 both John Piper and I were confronted with the 'statistics of missions' as outlined in the Hidden Peoples Pie Chart. We were thinking of adding another full-time pastor to our staff when a young couple from Bethlehem sent us a letter challenging this decision. They wrote in the letter, 'How can you justify adding another full-time Christian worker in a church that already has two in a city that has a thousand churches?' Then they proceeded to lay out the statistics of missions and encouraged us to consider that when the Bible used the word "nations" it doesn't mean countries, but ethno-linguistic groupings of people. This pesky letter was part of what God used to wake up John Piper and me to the reality that is we love the glory of God we will not be content until His glory in the face of His Son has been proclaimed to all the nations and worshippers have been won from every tribe and tongue and people.'"
This is back when John Piper's church was new and small. And to me, it demonstrates how and outward focus on missions has an inward benefit of growth. Instead of building up their staff as their budget allowed, they did something that might look foolish in the business world (or the modern church world). They put the money toward a full-time missionary. One might think that the money would have been better spent on someone who would be working in the church. I'm beginning to believe that God's desire is that every church be a beacon to the nations. And when the church has that correct focus, God blesses tremendously. Bethlehem Baptist has been dedicated to foreign missions for almost thirty years now, supporting 80+ full-time missionaries. It was Ralph Winter who said, "The success of a church should not be measured by its seating capacity but by its sending capacity."
One of the articles was written by Tom Steller, the pastor of leadership development at Bethlehem Baptist Church (where John Piper is the senior pastor). This article had a special impact on me. Here are some excerpts:
"...During the summer of 1983 both John Piper and I were confronted with the 'statistics of missions' as outlined in the Hidden Peoples Pie Chart. We were thinking of adding another full-time pastor to our staff when a young couple from Bethlehem sent us a letter challenging this decision. They wrote in the letter, 'How can you justify adding another full-time Christian worker in a church that already has two in a city that has a thousand churches?' Then they proceeded to lay out the statistics of missions and encouraged us to consider that when the Bible used the word "nations" it doesn't mean countries, but ethno-linguistic groupings of people. This pesky letter was part of what God used to wake up John Piper and me to the reality that is we love the glory of God we will not be content until His glory in the face of His Son has been proclaimed to all the nations and worshippers have been won from every tribe and tongue and people.'"
This is back when John Piper's church was new and small. And to me, it demonstrates how and outward focus on missions has an inward benefit of growth. Instead of building up their staff as their budget allowed, they did something that might look foolish in the business world (or the modern church world). They put the money toward a full-time missionary. One might think that the money would have been better spent on someone who would be working in the church. I'm beginning to believe that God's desire is that every church be a beacon to the nations. And when the church has that correct focus, God blesses tremendously. Bethlehem Baptist has been dedicated to foreign missions for almost thirty years now, supporting 80+ full-time missionaries. It was Ralph Winter who said, "The success of a church should not be measured by its seating capacity but by its sending capacity."
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
A Note I Wrote to a Person Quoting Immanuel Kant
Hey, I went to school with you and I stumbled upon your note about why you once opposed the right of women to vote, and your writing kept my attention. And I got to the end of your note, and I read this about Immanuel Kant.
"Immanuel Kant once wrote that an action is only moral if it is done out of a sense of duty, which in turn is decided by reason. That's the mentality that I am desperately working on incorporating into my life."
And I wanted to comment on the note, but I couldn't, so I decided to send you a message- you seem to appreciate comments and discussion, so here I go.
I think that the concept of morality Kant is getting at here is not true, and is actual damaging to biblical Christianity. Let me explain.
A Kantian morality says that Christians should obey God out of duty, decided through the mental processes of reason. It states that the virtue of an action decreases when we aim to derive any benefit from it. Actions are good when the doer is disinterested. We should do good because it's good--not for ourselves. Any action that is motivated by our own desire to seek happiness or pursue joy, then, lacks virtue because it is not done out of a reasoned "sense of duty". Am I right?
First of all, is that even possible? I don't think so. Every decision ever made by any person is always done for the same universal reason that goes like this: "It is better for me to do this than not to do this.". The man who hangs himself pursues relief. The man who wakes up early to study seeks knowledge. We are, at all times, in pursuit of fulfillment/gratification/happiness/satisfaction--whatever you want to call it. Pascal was right: "All men seek happiness without exception. They all aim at this goal however different the means they use to attain it...They will never make the smallest move but with this as its goal. This is the motive of all men, even those who contemplate suicide." Therefore, acting ONLY in a sense of duty, apart from personal, self-motivations (Pascal calls it "seeking happiness"), is impossible.
Secondly, Kantian morality is not only impossible, it's unbiblical and undesirable. Think about a man who is virtuous by biblical standards, not Kant's. He is one who LOVES kindness (Micah 6:8)--the implies that the reason a good man is kind is because he loves being kind, not because being kind is his "duty". He DELIGHTS in the Law of the Lord (Psalm 1:2)--same implication is here--a righteous man keeps the Law of the Lord because he loves keeping it, not because he has to. How can a man be virtuous in Kant's view of morality? He wouldn't be virtuous, by God's standards--if anything, he'd be a hypocrite.
Kant loves a disinterested giver. God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7). Kantian obedience is dead-set against Christian, biblical obedience. The Bible is replete with incentives of rewards, including joy, pleasure, fulfillment, contentment, and happiness. So to say, like Kant does, that an action is moral only if it is done out of a sense of duty is to deny the role of affections in the life of a believer. The Christian life is not about cold obedience done out of a "sense of duty". It's about God changing your affections so that you fall out of love with the world and in love with God, so that obedience is a JOY.
C.S. Lewis says, "It is a Christian duty, as you know, for everyone to be as happy as he can."
And Jonathan Edwards: "Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of."
And even Jesus, who set the example of perfect obedience (Phil. 2:5-11), had this mindset. Consider Hebrews 12:1-3:
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who [catch this!!] FOR THE JOY THAT WAS SET BEFORE HIM endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."
Jesus' obedience was motivated by joy. So should ours.
All of the works of John Piper share this theme--that pursuit of joy IN GOD ought to be the motivating incentive for everything we do. "Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist" changed my whole view on obedience, and really helped me understand it. I suggest you read it, you'll probably love it like I did.
I know this is lengthy, and I apologize, but once I found out you even ATTEMPTED to read Critique of Pure Reason I figured you'd be able to read this.
What do you think?
--Eric Durso
"Immanuel Kant once wrote that an action is only moral if it is done out of a sense of duty, which in turn is decided by reason. That's the mentality that I am desperately working on incorporating into my life."
And I wanted to comment on the note, but I couldn't, so I decided to send you a message- you seem to appreciate comments and discussion, so here I go.
I think that the concept of morality Kant is getting at here is not true, and is actual damaging to biblical Christianity. Let me explain.
A Kantian morality says that Christians should obey God out of duty, decided through the mental processes of reason. It states that the virtue of an action decreases when we aim to derive any benefit from it. Actions are good when the doer is disinterested. We should do good because it's good--not for ourselves. Any action that is motivated by our own desire to seek happiness or pursue joy, then, lacks virtue because it is not done out of a reasoned "sense of duty". Am I right?
First of all, is that even possible? I don't think so. Every decision ever made by any person is always done for the same universal reason that goes like this: "It is better for me to do this than not to do this.". The man who hangs himself pursues relief. The man who wakes up early to study seeks knowledge. We are, at all times, in pursuit of fulfillment/gratification/happiness/satisfaction--whatever you want to call it. Pascal was right: "All men seek happiness without exception. They all aim at this goal however different the means they use to attain it...They will never make the smallest move but with this as its goal. This is the motive of all men, even those who contemplate suicide." Therefore, acting ONLY in a sense of duty, apart from personal, self-motivations (Pascal calls it "seeking happiness"), is impossible.
Secondly, Kantian morality is not only impossible, it's unbiblical and undesirable. Think about a man who is virtuous by biblical standards, not Kant's. He is one who LOVES kindness (Micah 6:8)--the implies that the reason a good man is kind is because he loves being kind, not because being kind is his "duty". He DELIGHTS in the Law of the Lord (Psalm 1:2)--same implication is here--a righteous man keeps the Law of the Lord because he loves keeping it, not because he has to. How can a man be virtuous in Kant's view of morality? He wouldn't be virtuous, by God's standards--if anything, he'd be a hypocrite.
Kant loves a disinterested giver. God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7). Kantian obedience is dead-set against Christian, biblical obedience. The Bible is replete with incentives of rewards, including joy, pleasure, fulfillment, contentment, and happiness. So to say, like Kant does, that an action is moral only if it is done out of a sense of duty is to deny the role of affections in the life of a believer. The Christian life is not about cold obedience done out of a "sense of duty". It's about God changing your affections so that you fall out of love with the world and in love with God, so that obedience is a JOY.
C.S. Lewis says, "It is a Christian duty, as you know, for everyone to be as happy as he can."
And Jonathan Edwards: "Resolved, to endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of."
And even Jesus, who set the example of perfect obedience (Phil. 2:5-11), had this mindset. Consider Hebrews 12:1-3:
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who [catch this!!] FOR THE JOY THAT WAS SET BEFORE HIM endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."
Jesus' obedience was motivated by joy. So should ours.
All of the works of John Piper share this theme--that pursuit of joy IN GOD ought to be the motivating incentive for everything we do. "Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist" changed my whole view on obedience, and really helped me understand it. I suggest you read it, you'll probably love it like I did.
I know this is lengthy, and I apologize, but once I found out you even ATTEMPTED to read Critique of Pure Reason I figured you'd be able to read this.
What do you think?
--Eric Durso
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Team Nicaragua 2009 (And Why I am for Short-Term Missions)
On June 14th, our First Baptist Church down here in Fallbrook will be sending off its first short-term mission trip team in almost ten years. We will be headed to San Marcos, Nicaragua, with an organization called Beyond Partner Ministries. My prayer is that this trip will spark a passion in our church for reaching the nations (that means here and abroad). I am excited to see what God does on this trip and how he uses it in my life and the lives of our team.
Since we began planning this trip, which was around January (a super-late start, I know) I've had some conversations about short-term missions. In my planning I have come to find that many people have reservations about short-term trips and hence do not like them and do not send teams anywhere. I've narrowed these down to four reasons churches have reservations about short-term mission trips. And I am also going to give a defense as to why I believe short-term missions work.
First reservation: Often missionaries don't want short-term mission teams. They are a lot of work, they rarely leave lasting contributions, and they can be a burden. The negatives out-weight the positives.
My response: This is true, but it is not always true. The first rule of short-term missions is this: ONLY GO WHERE YOU ARE NEEDED. Never force yourself upon the missionaries. They probably feel a lot like Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:
"I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?"
We don't want to add any pressure to the missionaries who are laboring for the lost where God's placed them. So never go to a place where the missionaries don't want or need you. Go where you're needed and wanted. In doing this, we completely bypass reservation number one.
Second Reservation: Short-term mission trips are costly, so why send a team out across the world when we can do the same thing here in our community?
My response: Yes, short-term missions trips are costly. But there is a big, huge difference between reaching out to your community and reaching out to the world. It is my conviction that a church should not be "either/or" with this issue-- churches need to be "both/and" here. Here's a few reasons why:
1) God has a passion for the nations. Therefore, God's church should too.
Acts 1:8 "And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." And of course the Great Commission, "Go therefore unto all the nations..." God has the entire globe on his mind. So should his church.
2) Short-term mission trips breed full-time missionaries.
No one ever becomes a missionary without "tasting" and experiencing an overseas experience first. God uses short-term mission trips to turn lights on to the vastness of God. A healthy church is a church that is sending members to fulfill the Great Commission. And the best way to do this is to give little tastes of what it's like to be commissioned--what it's like to go.
3) The focus on global missions naturally translates into community outreach.
The common question short-termers ask themselves when they get back their trip is this: "Why can't I do that back home?" Short-term missions breed missional laypeople.
The truth is you can't do the same thing within your community. The difference between community outreach and global outreach is drastically different.
Third Reservation: Short-term mission trips tend to be impersonal, and not much can be done without relationship.
My Response: True. If a team shows up for a week, evangelizes and builds and church and then leaves, without true relationships being formed, it's hard to have a lasting ministry. Lasting ministries are built on relationships. But just because short-term trips are just that--short-term--doesn't mean the relationship has to be. There are things we can do to connect and cultivate relational, lasting ministry.
Here are some suggestions I would give in this regard:
1) This goes back to my response to reservation one--find a missionary that needs you. Don't bombard missionaries that are already overwhelmed and don't need your help.
2) As a church, limit the number of missionaries you support, so that the church can support a smaller number of missionaries with a more substantial amount of money. The smaller the number of missionaries you have, the easier it is to build relationship with them. You can know them more intimately. Think of it as "adopting a missionary" into your church family. Also, when you support a missionary financially that way, they feel obligated to spend more time with you. So again, the relationship is built.
3) Go and help them when they need you and bring people along. This way, the people in your church will put a face and a personality to the name they've been asked to support financially. They know how to pray and encourage the missionary.
Fourth Reservation: If we're not on mission in our community, why should we try to do it overseas?
My Response: Maybe the reason you're not on mission in your community is because the people don't know what it's like to be on mission. Maybe they need to do it and experience it. And maybe it takes an overseas trip to open their eyes to how people do it and how God's using it. Like my response to reservation number two: global missions breed missional laypeople. Missions help the saints see how we can be missional in our communities.
So there you have it. That's why I am for short-term mission trips. Short-term mission trips are not an end in themselves, but I think they are portals to achieving a greater end, that is God's global purpose: the spread of the gospel to all the nations.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Fairfax High School Crowns (Male) Prom Queen
What?? This is insane.
Our country is so confused it thinks that it's sexist to tell him, "Sorry, but you're a boy."
Our country is so confused it thinks that it's sexist to tell him, "Sorry, but you're a boy."
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Radical Ministry (I Think)
I feel a call to radical ministry. I always wonder what that looks like in youth group terms. And it's hard to feel like you're doing something radical when you spend most of your time planning. Whether it's messages, meetings, or minutia (alliteration is always sweet). I think my idea of what is radical has a lot to do with its ties to mission.
Here are some things I've done recently:
1) Build up a kind of strategy for organic, personal outreach (see this blog post of mine to see where exactly I went) and emphasized it with the group. The series went something like this:
1 Corinthians 3:6-7 "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth."
Here are some things I've done recently:
1) Build up a kind of strategy for organic, personal outreach (see this blog post of mine to see where exactly I went) and emphasized it with the group. The series went something like this:
- What is an oikos? (Focused on teaching what an oikos was and how to identify it)
- Why an oikos (Focus on why oikos evangelism is effective)
- How does it all work (Focused on the heart behind the evangelism-what is the motivation?)
- How it can fail (Focused on how outreach will fail without first being true followers of Christ)
- Set Apart (this is who we are, who we want to be)
- Operation Infiltration (this is our mission, our two-word summation of the Great Commission to go. Our goal is to infiltrate our worlds (oikos) with the gospel.
- Oikos (this is our mission field. It's our 8-15 people God has strategically and supernaturally put into our lives.)
- Sunday mornings are focused on biblical teaching as to how we are to be Set Apart for God's use.
- Our small prayer group meets before every Wednesday night to pray for the kids in youth group.
- Wednesday nights are an outreach program that kids can bring their unsaved friends to. It's intentionally programmed to be made for unsaved kids to come (but the gospel is not watered down!)
- Other events are opportunities for kids to invite their friends (oikos) so we can build relationships and extend our sphere of influence.
1 Corinthians 3:6-7 "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth."
Thursday, May 7, 2009
The Kingdom of Heaven
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid three measure of flour, till it was all leavened.”
The Kingdom of Heaven is growing. Slowly. Imperceptibly. Often unnoticed by the unwary eye. But it is growing steadily. Our Lord God Commander has sent out his soldiers into the world as unseen, unknown, unnamed witnesses that slowly but surely further the kingdom of heaven. This is Operation Infiltration. These soldiers are fearless, faceless, as persistent as pit bulls and as gentle as lambs. They walk upright, with utmost confidence—not in themselves, but in their leader, who has given them everything they need. When they are mocked, they smile. When they are ridiculed, they rejoice. Resistance only makes them stronger. Why? Because they operate within an unstoppable force called the sovereign will of God Almighty—and they know for a fact that HE cannot be stopped.
They may be faceless, but o do they feel it. It’s not just church—it’s their passion. It’s their deep, heart-felt, blood-earnest desire to do God’s will. They feel it in their gut. They love the saints. They shed tears for the unsaved. They will do anything to win them for Christ. And yet, they know that no matter how hard they work, they can do nothing in regards to saving souls. But that doesn’t bother them, because they have been on their knees before God and know that He will act. They have heavy hearts for the hopeless but they are filled to the brim with hope. Their hope in God is what drives them day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute.
They know scripture like their life depends on it—because it does. And not only their life but the lives of their associates and life-sharers who need to hear the truth. So they wear the Word of God like a sheathed sword on their hip, and they are ready to use it to cut through the deception and guilt and depression that is claiming the dying souls around them. They don’t go to church— they are the church. They are the faceless minority dispersed throughout the world to bring the lost ones to Christ. And they will continue to do it until every tribe, tongue, and nation has heard the gospel. And they are turning the world upside down one person at a time.
O, that God would raise up a generation of Christian soldiers that are characterized by driving passion, rock-solid confidence and a head-turning joy displayed in a steadfast love for the lost.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
