Category: World

Random talk about the weather, geopolitics and implications of global quantitative easing on the spot price of malt barley, FOB Themiddleofnowhere, Alberta.

Christian Discrimination and Guilt

Christians in the West look on with confusion as they ponder their apparently unforgivable guilt. They cannot imagine that their rejection by the world is anything except their own fault.

How different is it to learn of the posture which Jesus himself taught? Recognizing that the outsider to Israel’s covenant was not privileged in the same way that the insider was, Jesus emphasized that particularity. We could even say that Jesus discriminated.

When the Syrophoenician woman wanted Jesus to perform a deliverance miracle for the benefit of her daughter, Jesus discriminated.

He said, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (Mark 7:27). He clearly affirmed there were distinctions of privilege that discriminated between the metaphorical children and dogs.

We may call Jesus’ approach localism, nativism, sphere sovereignty, and even a sort of racial privilege. But truly his approach was to see the electing, particular choice of God in setting his special, discriminating covenant affection upon Israel. This special covenant discrimination was so special, that a Gentile or covenant outsider needed to join themselves to Israel in some manner in order to get the residual benefit of Israel’s blessings.

When Jesus was approached by the Syrophoenician woman, she was not joining herself to Israel but was coming to Jesus. So in Old Covenant terms, she was not doing what was required to get the discriminating blessing of God reserved for Israel. Jesus knew this, but Jesus received the woman’s appeal directly to himself.

We are told of how this outsider responded to Jesus, in verse 28, “But she answered him, ‘Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” The woman clearly understood that she had no right to the blessings and that they belonged to the privileged ones (the children). But she appealed to Jesus for mercy. Not only that, she was content to get a small portion of the privilege (the children’s crumbs). Humility and gratitude were revealed in her appeal.

Jesus granted her request. He extended the privilege to her. He didn’t have to. He chose to do so. This privilege was still discriminating (not all lepers in Israel were healed see Luke 4:27), but it was sovereignly extended to an undeserving person. So long before John Calvin or even before Augustine, Jesus exercised a sovereign extension of privilege to the undeserving. He did this out of his free grace, and according to his own fidelity to a new covenant which he ratified in his own blood.

Christians in the West can feel guilty that they must extend the privileges of gospel forgiveness to everyone else. Yet they fail to see that the extension of those privileges is conditional on the recipients’ repentance, humility, gratitude, and loyalty to Jesus. No one in the world has a right or entitlement to the discriminating privileges of the New Covenant. It is not for the church to convince the world that the gospel is good enough for them. Rather it is for the world to humble themselves and beg for the children’s crumbs. Only when the worldly dogs appeal to Christ for mercy can they have the children’s privileged breadcrumbs given to them.

China Diaries #6 &#7: The Foreigner and the One Legged Man

China Diary #6 The Foreigner

After a poor sleep we ate millet samp,  deep fried beef and a boiled egg in the hotel breakfast buffet.

Brother G and I spoke often today about what God was doing in his life and in mine. We talked about the prospects for a new mission agency and what God taught me through the stages of planting Calvary Grace.

We are always uneasy when we walk to the office building and stand waiting for the crowded elevator. Brother G and I have decided we need to be careful not to speak since our English attracts immediate attention when my presence does not.

When we got to the top floor office without incident we found that the conference room was locked. This wouldn’t matter normally, but as I stood outside the office, I could see other workers, not Christians who were noticing me.

The thoughts went through my mind:

Do they know I’m a Christian?

Are they passing info to the PSB?

Are they mostly indifferent?

Pastor Y had told us that recently the PSB had been posting lookouts on the streets nearby watching who enters and exits the office building.

In the end I simply waited for the door to be unlocked and carried on with my work, trusting in the Lord’s provision.

China Diary #7 The Lasting Work of the One Legged Man

After seeing the work in the city and hearing about other “W. people” and their church networks in other parts of China, the question for me was:

Where did this Chinese Jerusalem come from?

After the Boxer rebellion that was anti-missionary and the Maoist victory that enforced cultural Marxism, how could this city become the hub for zealous, capitalistic, Calvinists?

The answer can only be found in heaven. Paul could say that in his ministry in Greece, he planted, another watered, but God gave the growth.

But under heaven, who laid the foundations for this Zion of the East?

The foundation-layer was an unlikely candidate, the one-legged man, George Stott.

Stott was a Free Church Presbyterian from Scotland who joined Hudson Taylor’s China Inland Mission. Stott said famously:

“ I do not see those with two legs going, so I must”

George Stott

Stott  laboured among the W. people with the gospel because Christ loved him and loved them. This was ample motivation to leave Scotland, even with his physical disability, and bring the gospel to the regions beyond (see Romans 15:14-21).

Only God could have known how he would use the W. people as gospel workers.  They are known as being the centre of mathematics in China. And it is no surprise that with their skill in numbers they are famous for their ability to make money! In fact W. is called the birthplace of captialism in China.

Today estimates say that in a population of 6 million in W., 600,000 are Christians. And of this 10% of the population, most would be what we would describe as Calvinists who practice baptism of believers only.

Now George Stott knows as he is in known ( 1 Cor 13:12) and can testify clearly what Psalm 40:5 tells us:

“You have multiplied O LORD my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.”

China Diary #4 & #5: Warren Buffet for Jesus; Security, Security

#4 Warren Buffet for Jesus

We went for a Western lunch of steak and fries before heading through the underground mall toward a brother’s penthouse apartment. This two storey home at the top of an officetower was home to the Warren Buffet for Jesus. He came from W., known as the Chinese Jerusalem.  I was told that the people of W. have a talent for making lots of money. But more importantly, they have a passion for spreading the gospel.

I saw the brother’s relaxed manner that hid a keen mind and a quick grasp of issues financial, logistical or theological.

This millionaire believer is one of the pastors of the church which operates the school.

We sat around his custom tea table and he poured round after round of tea as we looked out his dingy top floor apartment to the mountains beyond. It was a two floor penthouse suite, but it was not what you’d expect from a millionaire.

He discussed the plans for the school and quickly organized three weeks of teaching in 2019, brought out a school prospectus and never let our cups go empty.

Full of tea we returned to the top floor of the office building where his company is located (he owns the top two floors) that also houses the school.

Imagine this army of pastors who have gone out with the ability to make money at whatever effort they attempt, yet they don’t do it out of a prosperity gospel, but simply to assist the spread of gospel preaching, sound theology and healthy churches. In China the dream is a reality.

#5 Security, Security

The elevator ride is becoming an interesting routine. The office building is packed with people so each floor makes a stop even though it is always filled to capacity.

In the elevator a tiny projector beams advertising onto the elevator doors. Sometimes it plays martial music for a fire safety ad. Other times its a Volkswagen commercial.

I’m always wondering if the rest of the people in the building know that the top floor is filled with Christians?

On one trip we piled into the elevator and the last person to get on was a Public Security Bureau officer. No one spoke. We waited to see if he would get off on one of the lower 22 floors. But he didn’t. When we got to the top floor he stepped out and proceeded towards the stairwell away from our hallway and the company offices. No one spoke until we reached the conference room. Everyone recognized that the PSB officer could have been coming to confront our meeting.

After the close call, Brother E, the school registrar handed out two books, Hackers Hardware and the other a manual on new trends in wearable internet devices. With no bibles visible (everyone used bible software) the school room looked like a tech company conference room and workspace.

The China Diaries #3: On the verge of closure

We were met in our hotel room by Brother E, who is the registrar of the school. He informed us that the security situation was tight. Two churches had been shut down due to their lack of ‘security systems’ to watch the congregants. There was a debate about whether we would meet the students at the school or elsewhere.

It was decided that we would meet the students at the school.

So we proceeded up the ad-filled elevator to near the top floor where  a business was operating. Inside the company’s labyrinth of offices we came to a cluster of young students around a board room table and some other workstations.

They greeted me with a cheer and I met their patron, the business owner who is also one of the pastors.

We made our introductions and I tried to remember where each student came from, even if I couldn’t remember their names.

They came from all over the Middle Kingdom.

I taught and it went well. They have good theology, but like most young people, they are not mature enough to see how rare good theology is. Yet they have it, and that is a good place to start.

The China Diaries #2 A Flat World with Open Gates

In Isaiah 40:4, the Lord promises that there will be a great flattening when the Messiah comes. He says that the valleys will be lifted up and the mountains made low.

The World is Flat

In this Western city it can be seen in one way that, as Milton Friedman wrote, “The World is Flat”, meaning that a global culture can be found everywhere. So here, there is a billboard of Leonardo DiCaprio selling watches on one side of the street and Kentucky Fried Chicken on the other.

But this is not the way that the world is flat according to the gospel. Now as John the Baptist prepared the way of the Lord, he cried out in the desert to “make his paths straight” (Mark 1:1-3). The arrival of Jesus Christ as the long awaited messiah means that this Western city is not merely flattened for global McDonaldization. It is flat because the highway of holiness (Isa 35:8) has been made by Jesus Christ, God Incarnate who said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me” (John 14:6).

Opening the City Gates

In this city that was an ancient stopover on the caravan routes trading silk and spices, there has always been a flattening of peoples and cultures from north south east and west.

But today, according to the gospel, the rough places are made a plain, and the city gates are welcoming the King of glory, the LORD of hosts (Psalm 24:1-10).

Today we live in a flat world with open gates. Who knows where the message of good news in Jesus Christ will go?

The China Diaries #1: A.I. and Language Recognition

This is the first of a series of entries which I made while travelling in China in the summer of 2018. They give you a partial glimpse of ministry in the Middle Kingdom. 

It was a civil flight at an uncivil hour. But following the journey from Calgary to Beijing I arrived to meet an old friend.

As we ate hotpot noodles, we reminisced on what God had done in our lives.

Artificial Intelligence

He had come from a northern Chinese province to moving to Canada where he had been looking for a research position studying artificial intelligence and language recognition.

While in Toronto friends invited him to church. And he attended an ESL outreach study. Through that study he came to saving faith in Christ, the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1: 24,30).

Language Recognition

His story merges with mine as we met at seminary. There we learned language recognition, as we sought to understand the New Testament in first century Greek.

In our work on this trip we will seek to declare the gospel boldly, as we ought to speak (Eph 6:20), and to confess our own worldly wisdom as foolishness (1 Cor 1:26).

The Wisdom of God

The world which suppresses the truth in unrighteousness lives on mere artificial intelligence (Romans 1:18-23). But for my old friend and I, we will seek to know the wisdom of God, Jesus Christ.

Why Secularism Isn’t Working

The secular West is puzzled. Why would people wish to detonate explosives killing themselves and others? What is happening in their brains’ synaptic gaps? What went wrong in their education? Where were the programs to prevent them from being “radicalized”?

Secularists don’t have categories for metaphysical motives. They stand slack-jawed at a jihadist world. They are literally speechless. Who would have thought that a Darwinian movement which so effectively undermined the idea of an omnipotent “Designer” is now paralyzed by the depth and complexity of evil designs.

So some secularists fall back on their default fears, the devil they know. The real evil, they insist, is that old Judeo-Christian Western Civilization. Secularism vilifies its metaphysical underpinnings, from belief in a Creator distinguished from creatures; the fixing of binary genders; human law as given from a higher source and even the possibility of supernatural conversion of enemies into kin. If something tips the hat to the supernatural, it is unwelcome in the secularists’ material world.

The irony of course, is that we are seeing secularists being irrationally sympathetic to jihadis by trumpeting the fear of Judeo-Christian “Islamophobia”.

But is there evidence of terror responses of Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox suicide bombers in Muslim neighbourhoods?

Are Jews regularly targeting Muslims for knife attacks in Molenbeek? There is no moral equivalence between the slurs and disdain that non-Muslims may express toward Muslims, and the urban blitzkriegs of takfiri jihadists against Western civilians.

So it is clear that secularism isn’t working. At least, anti-supernatural, Marxist materialism isn’t.

Many Christians like myself are thankful for the separation of Church and State, but a pluralistic public square doesn’t mean that it must be expunged of faith. Besides, the secularists have their own faith — a faith in themselves, their reason and their autonomy. But that faith isn’t standing up very well to the evils of our age.

So are we left with paralysis and despair? Must we impotently watch as jihadis murder secularists, Muslims, Hindus and Christians with coordination and precision? Must we only respond with blunt rage or bankrupt policy?

There is hope offered in, of all places, the history of Syria.

There was a man long ago who was ideologically sophisticated, religiously zealous, and logistically capable. He was the perfect jihadist. The story goes that, while expanding his campaign of removing infidels, this terrorist met Jesus, the Jew from Nazareth, on the road to Damascus.  How could he meet Jesus? The Jew had died on the Roman cross, and three days later was witnessed as raised from the dead. He was alive, handled even, and witnessed by up to 500 people at one time. His resurrection vindicated the truth that he was truly man, but truly God as well. 

And when the terrorist met him, then the terrorist was a terrorist no more. Saul of Tarsus, the terrorist, became Saint Paul, the evangelist. He put down the sword, and offered a message of hope across tribes and ethnicities in a terrifying world: the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. 

And so there is a similar Syrian choice for secularists today. If they refuse to consider the possibility of the supernatural, they will only remain confused and lost in the face of the sword.

This post is adapted from an earlier article titled Easter for Jihadis 

Protecting Enquirers, Seekers and Converts

 

It isn’t something that has been written about in the popular Christian leadership magazines in the West. There aren’t conference topics on the subject at gatherings for church leaders in the US, Canada, Britain or Australia. But things are changing.

Now churches have to think about the reality of protecting people who are interested in learning about Jesus Christ, reading the bible, attending the church and hearing the gospel preached. With the recent move by the Canadian government to introduce an Islamophobia law, there is increased unwillingness of Western governments to protect the rights of those leaving Islam and converting to other religions.

Imagine the scenario of an Iranian Shia woman who is witnessed to by a Christian woman, and becomes a believer herself. According to all three schools of Sharia, that formerly Muslim woman is now under threat for her life. Other Muslims have, in their minds, the responsibility to execute that apostate from Islam.

Although some churches in the West have had scenarios when they have had to protect a seeker or a new convert from they violent pressures of family and community, most of these instances are isolated. However, if laws are made and shirk, or apostasy from Islam is rendered an Islamophobic, blasphemous act, then enquirers into the gospel will do so under suspicion and threat.

I think of the Iranian Shia widow who has attended my church a number of times, with great appreciation for the love our church has shown to her, as well as the gospel of Jesus Christ which she hears preached. She is not a believer in Christ, but even her enquiries could come at a cost.

So pastors and congregants must be prepared to sacrifice in order to protect those who are exploring Christianity. We must love them so that they can find security in our fellowship, as they seek Jesus, God the Son, the only saviour for the world.

 

A Question of Consistency: Vancouver Churches Versus Franklin Graham

In Vancouver, Franklin Graham will be conducting a ‘Festival of Hope’ which is the rebranded name for evangelistic meetings which his father held under the now impolitic name of ‘crusades’.

But the crusader imagery has been brought to the forefront again as a group of churches in Vancouver have signed a letter denouncing Graham’s arrival. Their central claim is that Graham’s arrival will incite violence. According to this claim, Graham’s ministry of gospel preaching would launch physically violent attacks by Graham’s presumably evangelical hearers against communities of different identities. Muslims and LGBTQ communities would be subject to a new physically violent crusade.

The question which Christians and citizens of other faiths need to ask is whether these churches’ protest is well-founded, and well-applied.

Christian Consistency

It appears that one of the concerns expressed by these churches is that Franklin Graham’s comments on the US political scene have been inconsistent with biblical teaching. They claim Graham made statements which are graceless toward two groups: those who profess identity with Islam and others who self identify on the LGBTQ+ spectrum. Specifically, Graham is said to call Islam an “evil religion” and to instruct Christians not to permit someone self-identifying as LGBTQ+ into their homes.

At the level of Christian consistency, we need to recognize that all teachers will be held to a higher account (James 3:1). So if Franklin Graham has said things which indicate that Muslims are less than human, or have a propensity for evil which other sinners don’t have, then his teaching would be false and need correction. If Graham was talking in a technically theological and moral sense, then it would be correct, according to historic Christian teaching to identify Islam as a false system of belief, and therefore a part of an overlay of deceit which Satan has cast upon the world.

As for statements about those who identify as LGBTQ+, again Graham’s statements need to be parsed in context. If he has claimed that those who self-identify as non-heterosexual are to be unloved or refused hospitality by Christians then he would be in serious error. Christian faith is professed by those who received a preemptive love from Jesus Christ (1 John 4.19). It was an undeserved love (Romans 5.8), which is the ground for Christians to be able to obey Jesus’ call to ‘love your neighbor’ (Mark 12.31) and even to ‘love your enemies’ (Matt 5.44). Franklin Graham knows this and preaches this, but if he has spoken in ways that are not consistent with this, then he needs to clarify his statements in order to be consistent with the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

On the other hand, if Graham has named as sin those sexual desires outside of monogamous heterosexual marriage, then he is saying what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 1.24-27.

The call to Christian consistency requires that we be clear about what God calls sin, as well as being clear about the way God calls redeemed sinners in the church to minister to lost sinners outside the church. Such clarity about Christian witness will only come through consistency with the Christian gospel.

Churches’ Consistency

The other call to consistency applies to the churches which are making the protest against Franklin Graham and his ministry in Vancouver. Each church which signed the statement of protest against Franklin Graham needs to ask themselves whether they are being consistent with their confession of faith.

The scenario looks like this: Protestant evangelical churches are identifying with Roman Catholic churches in protesting a Protestant evangelical ministry. Evangelicals are joining with non-evangelicals.

Now possibly these churches are practicing what theologian Francis Schaeffer called, ‘co-belligerence’, namely the joining together of religious groups that disagree about the core of their faith, but who have common interests on specific moral questions, such as the illegitimacy of abortion.

In this case, these churches would be offering a social protest by linking with groups that they would otherwise mark as teaching false doctrine. Churches intent on sharing the gospel of Jesus need to be wary that they aren’t giving support to those who deny the necessity of evangelizing lost sinners.

Rendering to Caesar?

At the heart of the protests against Franklin Graham are his associations with US President Donald Trump. By being too favorable and supportive of Trump, whose name is now unutterable by many in Vancouver (especially the city mayor and councillors), Graham stands condemned in the view of the protest signatories.

If Graham has not kept a prophetic distance from President Trump, then his ministry ought to be analysed and critiqued in light of Scripture. It could be argued that the great legacy of Franklin’s father, Billy Graham was not enhanced by being ‘the pastor’ to successive US Presidents.

The condemnation from the Vancouver churches has been cast as a concern for public safety as they claim Graham’s visit will “incite violence”. Does this mean that by Graham praying at Trump’s Inauguration, he will now preach to launch a literal, physically violent crusade in Vancouver?

Such a claim is wildly false, as there is no evidence that Franklin Graham’s ministry incites violence. In fact it could be argued that one of the most significant agents for compassion toward Muslim refugees, be they Sunni or Shia, has come through Samaritan’s Purse, the relief and development agency which Franklin Graham founded.

If the violence will be directed against Franklin Graham and attendees at the Festival of Hope, then the main message these churches should be advancing is a call for tolerance. This would be a great opportunity in Vancouver to remind the city that it can hear messages from people they choose to disagree with, but which are welcomed to be spoken in peace and safety.

Either way, the Vancouver churches ought to be wary of descending into the same ‘scare tactics’ which dominate discourse across the political spectrum. Could it be that the Vancouver churches are encouraging civic authorities to police the speech of an evangelist at a time when the prophetic freedom of religion is increasingly under threat? It would be a great irony if in a decade Canadian churches looked back at this episode as the defining invitation for the state to control the messaging of the church.

Self Critique and Gospel Unity

This protest reminds Evangelicals of their need for self-critique. Those who hold that the inerrant Bible has binding authority on the conscience must be ready to critique any softening of truth when applied to politicians. Those in public office do not get free passes simply because they briefly have hands on levers of civil power.

When Christian leaders use their influence to validate politicians by softening truth, it undermines the prophetic witness of the gospel. Christians must speak truth to power, even as Nathan the prophet did to King David who was in the wrong and needed to be told so.

Yet even as some Evangelicals have uncritically embraced political means, there are other Evangelicals who have made sharp calls for Christian consistency. This is what has been happening in the US as many Evangelicals have been at the forefront of speaking truth to power and critiquing other Evangelicals complicity in moral degeneration. Russell Moore, the Southern Baptist has been in the lead challenging now President Donald Trump from a truth-telling Evangelical stance. He has also spoken out against racism that has rippled out of the recent US election. Moore is well documented as a critic of his own denomination’s record on discrimination going back to the 19th century. This is the sort of self-critique and truth to power which the Vancouver churches could aspire to.

Now if the Vancouver churches choose not to self-critique in this way, they are opting to become the very thing they are protesting— a lobby group. As such they are relinquishing their prophetic power in order to court municipal, political, and societal influence.

Many Canadian Evangelicals are concerned that support for Franklin Graham, a fellow Evangelical, will be construed as support for the character, quotes and policies of President Donald Trump. But this concern should rather be seen as an opportunity to clarify the gospel of Jesus, namely the summons of God to a self-abandoning reliance upon the atonement of Jesus Christ for sin. God is our mighty fortress not the towers of Trump, Babel, or any other. Evangelicals don’t need to respond to political leverage with opposite leverage. The weapons of our warfare are supernatural with ability to captivate even hardened, entrenched opinions (2 Cor 10.4).

In Vancouver, and across Canada, we can be wary of obscuring the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no accord between Christ and Belial (2 Cor 6.15), the latter being political powers or religious groups who deny the saving gospel of Jesus Christ.
By keeping the gospel central, we can speak truth to power, as well as humbly returning to Jesus Christ whom we so easily stray from even when we have intended to do what is right.

Winning People Not Just Arguments

From Os Guinness:

Our urgent need today is to reunite evangelism and apologetics, to make sure that our best arguments are directed toward winning people and not just winning arguments, and to seek to do all this in a manner that is true to the gospel itself.”

Fool’s Talk: Recovering the Art of Christian Persuasion