J O N E S
6
What You See is
What You Get:
A TRIBUTE TO JOHN MORAN
H O P E
pg
11
VOL 46 | NO 3
S T E V E
M A N N
WINTER 2013-2014
Plugging the Holes pg
That Drain Our Hope
D AV I D
President
From the
WINTER 2013-2014 | VOL 46 | NO 3
FEATUREDCONTENT
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Have You Lost Hope?
Douglas Connelly
Plugging the Holes
That Drain Our Hope
Steve Jones
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11
4
6
Anchor for the Soul
Our 5-year Vision Plan
The five priorities which are the crux of the vision
are not unique, but their attached goals make
this vision challenging and forward looking. The
five priorities:
Tom Murphy
1 Perpetual intercessory prayer
What You See
is What You Get:
A Tribute to John Moran
2 Renewed, passionate commitment
to evangelize the lost and make
disciples
David Mann
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Welcome to Bethlehem
Norm Fuller
Hope for the Church
Bob Ransom
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The purpose of Missionary Church Today is to
bring glory to the Lord by describing His work
done in and through the people and activities
of the Missionary Church.
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3 More targeted focus on
strengthening local churches
4 Greater emphasis on planting new
churches and districts
5 Intentional recruitment and
development of catalytic* leaders
(*A catalytic leader is characterized
as being spiritually passionate,
missional and entrepreneurial)
(The specific details of the vision
are available online at www.
mcusa.org.)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hope for the Cities
Editor: Curtis Alexander
Jeff Getz
It’s not unusual to be on an airplane or
in a meeting, and have people ask me
what I do. When I say I’m President of
the Missionary Church, they look puzzled,
frown and say, “Is that a denomination?”
Interesting question.
Let’s think about it together.
“Denomination” simply comes from a Latin word
meaning “officially named,” that is, an officially named
branch of the Christian church. In that sense, we
certainly are a denomination; we’re “officially named”
The Missionary Church, Inc.
But to many Americans today it has come to mean a
rigid, top–down organization which inhibits the flow of
God’s Spirit through rules and commands. They equate
it to a “church run like a corporation,” just a big religious
conglomerate, ruling over local congregations with an
iron fist, as if the local church was just a franchise of the
“parent company.”
Who would want to be a part
of something like that? Not I!
Proofreader: Diane Rodocker
Circulation: Cynthia Sparling
Unless noted, all biblical quotations
are from NIV.
WORLDPARTNERS
Bringing Hope to a Dark Place
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
18
20 Disciple Maker’s Network in Asia
If you have questions or comments,
please contact us:
Jennifer Platt
Phone: 260.747.2027
email: [email protected]
Shaun Futch
Mail: Missionary Church Today
PO Box 9127
Fort Wayne, IN 46899
Riding the Hope
Rollercoaster
Curtis Alexander
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The “No Limit”
Christmas
Missionary Church Today Staff
22
24
Postmasters: CHANGE OF ADDRESS
AND ITEMS FOR PUBLICATION
should be sent to:
Missionary Church Today,
PO Box 9127
Fort Wayne, IN 46899-9127
or emailed to mctoday@mcusa.
org. Please include both old
address label and new address
when requesting a change.
Allow 6-8 weeks.
Missionary Churches share a common name; in that
sense we truly are a denomination. But when it comes
to how we operate, we’re certainly not a top–down
structure keeping a stranglehold on our churches
and people.
The Missionary Church is open–handed and open–
hearted toward sincere brothers and sisters in Christ
who are leading churches in a Bible–based, Christ
honoring way! And we at the national office are clear
that Missionary Churches do not exist to support us. We
have only one reason for existing: to help and support
our churches. In that sense, we are “bottom up!”
That’s partly why we treasure the rich variety of our
churches! Some congregations are suit–and–tie sorts
of churches; we also have congregations that are blue–
jeans and cowboy boots sort of churches. We meet in
little white buildings with steeples, in store–fronts and
warehouses. We’re upper, lower, and middle class.
We’re Anglo, Hispanic, Brazilian, Haitian and other
ethnicities, even multi–ethnic. We have poor churches
and rich ones, old churches and young ones, and
churches that worship God in every imaginable worship
style! We love them all!
If we were trying to force all our churches into a
narrow mold, we would certainly be doing a terrible job!
So for those people uncomfortable with the new sense
of “denomination,” how would we describe ourselves?
The Missionary Church is a unique family held
together not by the force of laws or a rigid hierarchy,
but by the beliefs we hold, the vision we share, and the
relationships we value.
• We hold common beliefs because they’re based
on the inerrant Word of God, as true and relevant
today as it was when the ink was still wet on the
original manuscripts.
• We share a vision that God wants us to reach every
lost person with the Good News of Jesus Christ,
then to disciple them until they’re spiritually mature
and reproducing themselves in the lives of others,
who in turn will reach and disciple others—an
unending movement of people from the kingdom
of darkness to the kingdom of light.
• We value the rich relationships within our churches,
between our churches, and with other like–minded
brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world.
That’s really what matters, isn’t it? The Missionary
Church is a family of churches held together by sharing
biblical beliefs, shouldering together the vision to reach
everyone for Jesus, and enjoying the rich relationships
that God gives us along the way.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Steve Jones is the newly–elected President of the Missionary
Church, Inc.
WINTER 2013-2014
For more information on the Missionary Church or to download this publication, visit mcusa.org.
Steve Jones
3
M I S S I O N A R Y C H U R C H T O D AY
One bitterly cold winter morning when I was a boy,
I saw the mail truck stop at our mailbox out at the street. My
dad must have seen it too because he left his warm workshop
and walked to the road in just his shirt. Snow was a foot deep
and the Michigan wind quickly cut through to his skin. He was
shivering even before he got to the mailbox.
He grabbed the mail and started back to the house, looking
quickly through the stack in his hand—and then he just
stopped. He had come upon a new Burpee seed catalog with
summer flowers on the front and big red juicy tomatoes on
the back. It was more than a garden–loving farm boy
could handle.
by Douglas Connelly
Dad was oblivious to the cold and the wind. He flipped
through the catalog, tasting the sweet corn and green beans,
smelling the roses and zinnias. In his mind he was standing
next to a freshly–tilled plot of land, ready to plant a new
batch of seeds. He was living for those few moments in the
summer, remembering bountiful harvests of the past.
Then the cold wind drew him back to January and he ran for
the house.
I’ve thought about that day often over the years. Those
moments at the mailbox for my dad are a lot like our Christian
lives. We feel the cold. We bump into problems of different
sizes and shapes every day. Sometimes we’re knocked off our
feet and wonder if we’ll ever get up again. We lean into the
biting wind of a lost job or a lost child or a broken marriage,
and we seriously doubt we’ll ever know joy again.
WINTER 2013-2014
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M I S S I O N A R Y C H U R C H T O D AY
But in the bitter days of life, we have the seed catalog
in our hands. We know what lies ahead. We open our
Bibles and smell the promised eternal spring. We don’t
see the garden growing, but we’re confident that winter
will pass.
Hope or Hope-so
The biblical word for that confident expectation of
God’s blessing and goodness is hope. This kind of hope is
not “hope–so.” That’s the world’s hope and it’s the best
they can do. It’s where a lot of co–workers and neighbors
and even Christians live—in a “hope–so” world. They
say, “I hope I get that new job or a big raise. I hope my
kids will finish college.” It’s a “hope–so” life, a desire
to be happier or healthier or wealthier. But there’s no
guarantee that those things will ever happen. The person
living a hope–so life crosses his or her fingers and gets
ready to be disappointed, because most of the time our
hope–so dreams never arrive. The Bible says that a hope–
so approach to life ends up being “no hope”
(Ephesians 2:12).
The genuine Bible kind of hope is a steadfast
confidence in the character and promises of a faithful
God, despite appearances to the contrary. Father
Abraham knew what that kind of hope was all about. God
came to him when he was 75 years old and promised
him descendants as numerous as the stars of the
heavens. Only one problem with that promise: Abraham
had no children. But he believed God’s promise (that’s
faith), and then kept on believing and eagerly anticipating
the fulfillment of that promise for 25 years (that’s hope).
From all outward appearances, that promise would
never come true. Abraham kept getting older, Sarah kept
getting older, but Abraham kept on believing that God
would do what He said He would do. “Against all hope
[humanly], Abraham in hope [confident expectation]
believed and so became the father of many nations”
(Romans 4:18).
Confident hope fills the New Testament as well. For
example, Jesus promised His disciples that, even though
He was going away for a while, He would someday
return. We’ve waited 2,000 years for that promise to be
fulfilled. Every outward appearance seems to argue that
Jesus will not keep that promise. Years and centuries
roll past, crises come and go, wars start and end, the
sun rises and sets. But Christians, despite appearances
to the contrary, keep on believing that Jesus will return.
Our confident expectation, our “blessed hope,” is the
“glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus
Christ” (Titus 2:13).
A Sure Foundation
Our confidence about the future, our hope, rests on
three immovable foundation stones: Jesus’ death, Jesus’
resurrection, and the gift of the Spirit.
You can’t read the New Testament without being
overwhelmed by the incredible sacrifice of Jesus in our
place on the cross. Jesus willingly gave Himself, at great
cost to the Father, for those who had done nothing to
deserve His goodness. By that death Jesus secured our
acquittal at God’s throne of justice. We’ve been made
right with God, we’ve been cleansed by His blood, we’ve
been reconciled to God by the death of His Son. If Jesus
did all that before we ever made a move in His direction,
why won’t He fulfill all His promises to us today and
tomorrow and forever?
Then, Jesus was raised from the dead! The basis of our
confidence, our hope, is that God did what He promised
He would do. He raised His Son to life, and He will
faithfully see you through whatever trial you’re passing
through right now. If God could move with His power to
raise Jesus from the dead, doesn’t He have the power to
change that situation in your life that seems so hopeless?
Finally, God’s lavish gift of the Spirit in us assures us
that, despite the suffering we may endure in the present,
God will not fail to carry through on every promise He has
ever made. If God has given us the best gift, the Holy
Spirit, He will certainly give us all the other gifts He has
promised in His Word.
So what promise of God are you continuing to believe
and eagerly expecting God to perform in your life?
Someone has counted over 5,000 promises in God’s
Word and we haven’t claimed one today! In the bleak,
cold wind of trial or heartache or loss or failure, in spite of
how things may appear at the moment, keep trusting in
God. Put your hope in Him. Take a long look at the seed
catalog and catch a glimpse of all that God has in His plan
for you. Plant some seeds of promise in your heart and
relationships, and then watch with eager anticipation for
the first signs of new life and God’s power.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Douglas Connelly is the senior pastor of Parkside Community
Church in Sterling Heights, MI and the author of The Names of God,
a new study guide from InterVarsity Press.
WINTER 2013-2014
5
M I S S I O N A R Y C H U R C H T O D AY
H pe
H les
that Drain our
Plugging the
by Steve Jones
There’s a saying among fishermen; “Better to fish hopefully, than to have fish.” I’ve
thought about that statement, and it rings true. Hope keeps you sitting all day in a cold,
driving rain, waiting for a six–inch fish you could buy at the corner store for less money
than you spent on bait! Hope is obviously motivational! But hope motivates people in
more important areas of life, too.
• Hope makes a soldier keep fighting through
weariness and pain, waiting for reinforcements.
• Hope helps a spouse wait patiently on God when
friends are recommending divorce.
• Hope drives cancer patients forward, week after tired
week, until the chemo begins to work and health
is restored.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of hope! The
Apostle Paul named hope as the center of the triumvirate
that God has given us: faith, hope and love. We have
hope because we have faith in God. We have faith in God
because of His love for us.
But hope has an enemy. The devil has a vested interest
in trying to drain our lives of faith, hope and love; he
knows that these gifts from God create tremendous
power in godly lives.
For that reason, we must guard the hope that God
gives us from the attempts of our enemy to drain us of
biblical hope. Here are four ways our enemy tries to drain
us of godly hope.
WINTER 2013-2014
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1
Our enemy presses us to accept a weaker
definition of hope.
The Greek word for “hope” in the Bible (
: el-PIDzo) comes from a primary word that means “strongly
anticipate or expect.” To demonstrate the strength of the
Greek word, examine this verse with the same Greek
word (capitalized). Notice that the capitalized words are
translated differently: “And if you lend to those from
whom you EXPECT repayment, what credit is that to
you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to sinners,’ EXPECTING to be
repaid in full” (Luke 6:34).
This is the same word for hope, and it’s a strong word
compared to the English word “hope.” As Christians, we
expect and anticipate that good will happen!
Counterfeit hope isn’t robust like that. Our world
reframes the word “hope” as weak and vague. People
say, “I sure hope that tornado misses our trailer!” If we
were saying that word in the biblical sense, we would
mean, “I strongly anticipate and expect that the tornado
is not going to hit our trailer!” But the world’s counterfeit
hope means something much weaker: “Boy, I sure hope
M I S S I O N A R Y C H U R C H T O D AY
that doesn’t happen.” This counterfeit hope is helpless,
pie–in–the–sky wishing.
Godly hope is far different. It is a strong anticipation and
expectation that God is going to set the world right!
Trusting in counterfeit hope drains us of the real thing.
So how do we plug this hole in our hope? The good news
is: it’s Jesus Himself who wants to rebuild our hope, so
instead of the weak, wishful kind that the world gives,
Christians have the souped–up, super version in our lives:
hope that is expectation!
Scripture tells us, regarding genuine hope: “Hope does
not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love
into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom He has given us”
(Romans 5:5). Because He Himself has said it, we are
expectant and grateful!
Destroy counterfeit hope by saying to God, “I expect
and anticipate that You are going to help me in this
situation, and that You will receive the glory for it!”
Genuine hope is powerful and life–giving!
2
T
he enemy uses our tendency toward self–
sufficiency to drain us of life–giving hope from God.
When I worked in suicide prevention, I was trained that
people don’t attempt suicide due to sadness. Instead,
people attempt suicide when they feel trapped in a
situation in which they see no way out. They look at their
circumstances and say, “I can see no way out. There is
no solution. I’m trapped in a situation I can’t take. I’ve
tried every doorknob out of my situation, and every single
one is locked.” So they think to themselves, “Well,
there’s always one last way out; I could take my life.”
People die from hoping in their own sufficiency!
If we try to be self–sufficient we easily find ourselves
in situations from which we cannot “self–rescue.” And
trying harder doesn’t help, it only exhausts us. If we hope
in our own sufficiency, our situation quickly deteriorates
and we fall into despair.
But Christians serve One who is all–sufficient! When
we call upon Him in our trapped situations, He offers new
and unexpected doorways into our situations. He declares,
“See, I have placed before you an open door that no one
can shut!” and in fact, He declares about Himself that
what He opens, no one can shut (Revelation 3).
When there was no way out of the lion’s den, Daniel
did not look to his own resources. There were no doors
out of his situation, but when he called on God, the Lord
opened new possibilities into his situation. God sent an
angel to shut the mouths of the hungry lions; no one saw
that coming!
David declared in Psalm 71:5, “For you have been my
hope, Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth.”
Self–sufficiency is a hope–killer, but self–sufficiency
can be killed. Instead of looking to our own resources or
cleverness, God invites us to look to Him. He wants to
be our sufficiency. He urges us to “hope in” instead of
“hope for.”
Godly hope is hope in that wonderful Being we know
as God, not hope for things we think will solve our
WINTER 2013-2014
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M I S S I O N A R Y C H U R C H T O D AY
4
problems. There’s a huge difference between hope
in God, and hope for things! You may hope for this
promotion, or that girlfriend, or test results to give a
clean bill of health, but those are all hopes for things!
Those lesser hopes may not be fulfilled. In fact, they are
often not fulfilled! And when they are not, we become
heartsick. Proverbs 13:12 verifies this: “Hope that is
deferred makes the heart grow sick…”
By contrast, there’s a kind of hope that never
disappoints, and it’s found in Romans 5:2. “We rejoice
in the hope of the glory of God.” His glory gives us great
hope! God is glorious, and God will be glorified in
our situations.
When we hope in God, our tests will become our
testimonies because of His greatness. Though hoping for
my own solutions has disappointed me again and again,
hoping in our great God never disappoints me, because
even if He chooses a different path than the one I would
have guessed, “…God is able to make all grace abound
to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you
need, you will abound in every good work”
(2 Corinthians 9:8).
3
God Himself promises to work in our lives to make things
better! So we needn’t cling to idealism out of fear that if
we’re not ideal now, then God won’t accept us someday.
“He who began a good work in you will carry it on until
the day of Christ Jesus.” Because of His great and
precious promises, (which have given us all we need for
life and godliness), say to Jesus:
• “I’m not blind to this world’s problems, but I expect
good from Your hand!”
• “I know that I have many failings, but because of Your
grace, I anticipate blessings and not curses
from You!”
• “I rebuke any attack on my hope, which our enemy
the devil would like to launch on me because my life
is not ideal!”
Our enemy wants us to forget God’s love for us,
to weaken our hope.
The Bible teaches that faith, hope and love are
interrelated. Faith is trusting God, and God is love. So,
of course, it’s trusting in the love of God which gives
us hope! Romans 5 ties together these powerful ideas:
“This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has
been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who
was given to us.”
If you’ve been feeling hopeless, chances are that God’s
love seems distant and unresponsive.
In order to kill this attack against your hope, it’s
important to recall the many ways the Lord has loved you
and met your needs in the past. Even though you cannot
yet see how He will meet your new needs, His faithful
love to you has been proven in the past, and God
never changes.
Once we realize how much He loves us, hope in the
LORD rising in us will snuff out inferior hope.
Our enemy uses idealism to lure us away from
biblical hope.
Let’s face it: things are not yet perfect. Idealism is fragile.
It quickly dies when faced with life’s harshest realities.
But godly hope thrives in life’s worst environments.
Have you noticed that the word “hope” is splattered
throughout the book of Job, 18 times? Does that seem
odd to you? A book about suffering like no other man
had ever experienced talks about hope over and over and
over again! The book of Job talks about hope more than
any book of the Bible except Psalms. When David wrote
his Psalms, he also poured out his heart to God through
many difficult and painful circumstances!
Here’s the truth: Christian hope always lives alongside
the reality that things are not yet what they should be!
The only reason why hope exists is because we are not
yet there.
In order to have godly hope, we need two things . . .
1 Knowledge that a wonderful future is ahead because
God says so, and
2 Keen awareness that we’re not there yet!
When the enemy tries to drain you of your God–given
heritage of hope, remember this wonderful promise from
Psalm 33: “The eyes of the LORD are on those who fear
him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Rev. Jones was elected President of the Missionary Church in
July 2013. Before that he was a pastor and Director of the Central
Region of the Missionary Church in the USA.
WINTER 2013-2014
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M I S S I O N A R Y C H U R C H T O D AY
With a four–foot gash in her side,
submarine S-4 went “bow–down” off
Cape Cod. Rammed by the Coast Guard
Cutter Paulding in an unhappy accident,
38 officers and crew perished. Heroic
rescue efforts were made. Three divers
dropped to sea bottom and “Morsed”
through the hull, finding six survivors
in the forward torpedo room. These
pecked back one question:
“Is...there....any...hope?”
Anchor for
the Soul
by Tom Murphy
There was, there wasn’t. A Nor’easter churned the sea,
shutting down rescue operations for ten days, too late to
save them.
While that’s Reality 1917, it serves as a metaphor: Not
whether or not we’re “sunk,” but really, is there any hope?
Slices of citizenry and politicians still glow “We’re the
greatest ever.” But there are others who see the nation and
world “bottoming out,” and pecking “Is there any hope?”
Unneeded is my list of catastrophes; you can make your
own more efficiently. Something more helpful might be to
work on the trapped crew’s question, “Is there any hope?”
Ben Franklin provided a somewhat cynical response at
the edge of the American Revolution: “He that lives upon
hope will die fasting.” His observation was about as helpful
as today’s boot-strappers arguing “Give’er another try,” or
“Your best shot can do it.” Or, maybe Wall Street’s favorite:
“Just going through another market correction; tomorrow
will be better.”
Aristotle Onassis argued “We must free ourselves of the
hope that the sea will ever rest. We must learn to sail in high
winds.” Things aren’t going to quiet down, so learn to live
with it.
Other thinkers see such notions as political drivel and
revisions of “Give ’er the old college try. “ Some of us
wonder, why not face up to facts: We don’t have a clue.
Both nation and world are in deep trouble.
WINTER 2013-2014
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M I S S I O N A R Y C H U R C H T O D AY
Learning to sail in high winds didn’t cut it for a boatload
of fisherman hauling Jesus to Gadara. That morning had
been spent in big crowd work near Capernaum, with
Jesus teaching. Then they loaded up, hoisted sail, and
shipped out for Gadara seven to ten miles across the lake.
Then it hit. It apparently “came out of the blue,” from
nowhere. Gale force winds whipped the sea to a fury and
in moments their smack was wallowing, water over the
gunwales big time.
“Lay hold of Jesus and
there’s always a way out
and a way up.”
These fishermen lived on this sea, it was their home.
But this wind was crazy; it “unwired” them, producing
something like “The Perfect Storm.” The Gospel record
outlines no emergency procedures, but here’s a guess:
some bailed for dear life, others reefed the sails, and then
of course, sailors do pray. Peter, John and company had
seen high winds before, but this one was something! “Mr.
Onassis, we had learned but, pardon an apparent pun,
we’re in over our heads.”
This sounds perilously like our world: out of control,
Capitol Hill and Wall Street not excepted.
If John Adams, President Number two, was right
(“Government is nothing more than the combined force
of society”), then the mess the government is in is only
a splash of personal mess. Not just a few feel like they’re
in over their heads. Ships of state are skippered by our
choices. Congress at work sounds a lot like shouting
orders to reef sails and swing buckets, yet from what I
see, we are on the verge of foundering.
Ah! Someone aboard this Galilean smack came to his
senses and grabbed Jesus, asleep in the stern. “Wake
up! Don’t you care that we’re going down?” (Matthew 18,
Mark 4, Luke 8).
That moment, hope began.
How about this for an “absolute?” Lay hold of Jesus and
there’s always a way out and a way up. Just Word–search
“hope” in Scripture and ultimately you’ll end up with
Jesus. Just a thought: maybe storms are a form of word–
search, just to get us to Jesus. One wonders why we
don’t just start there, instead of ending up there. It would
make life much better and likely much simpler.
WINTER 2013-2014
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In the record of this near disaster, there’s more: Jesus
told the wind to hush and the sea to calm down. Talk about
power word, maybe a hint to despairing souls with Bibles
stashed to get them out and into them?
Robert Schuller of Crystal Cathedral told of a terribly
distraught woman futilely treated in a mental hospital.
Fogged in with despair, she mumbled “I’m in hell; I don’t
believe in God; he left me.” Sometime later, an observing
visitor returned and was stunned at a radical change,
raising the question “How in the world?”
A new, young doctor had passed through her ward and
casually introduced himself. “I am Dr. Heven.” She lifted
hollowed eyes, stared at his white coat. “Heven” swirled
the fog. Touching his sleeve, “That name again?” “Heven.
Dr. Heven.” Her sick mind rolled the word over and over:
“Heven...Heven...Heaven” The fog shifted. Fuzzy thoughts
began to clear. “If Heven is here, this can’t be hell. If
Heaven is here, then God is here. He hasn’t left me.”
Seeping through her mind came a childhood memory
verse: “This is the day that the Lord hath made; we will
rejoice and be glad in it.” The next morning she was
walking the corridors repeating the verse, dredged from
the bottom of her yesterdays. All day long “This is the
day...” The power of that word awakened her to the reality
that God is and that He cares and is in control. Storms
calmed down.
There was a word to the fishermen at hand too: “Why
are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40).
That question can be inverted, “Just trust me: I’ll never
let you drown.”
Hanging on to Jesus and reading his words closely does
magnificence to faith, puts steel into our faith and hope,
making them “solid anchors.”
Hebrews was partially written to firm the faith and
secure the hope of a church facing martyrdom—heavy
seas, indeed! The writer puts it “We have this hope as an
anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (Hebrews 6:19).
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dr. Murphy began pastoring in the Missionary Church more than 40
years ago, and edited Missionary Church Today magazine for more than
a decade.
M I S S I O N A R Y C H U R C H T O D AY
What You See is What You Get:
A Tribute to John Moran
In the spring of
1977 a phone call
changed my life and
provided my first
personal contact with
John Moran. The
Missionary Church
national office
requested I interview
for the position of
denominational youth director. I had served Youth
for Christ in Elkhart, Indiana for ten years, and was
a member of Beulah Missionary Church in Elkhart.
I had served on the Missionary Church North
Central District youth committee the previous year.
John Moran was the chairman of that committee.
I respected John’s ability to work with people and
his desire to serve Christ and the Church.
When the national office called, I contacted John
immediately. He also served on the Missionary
Church’s national youth committee and I thought
he could give me some insight into the position.
To this day I remember that session as an
important factor in determining my future. John
not only described the youth director role but
he was encouraging and empowering. I was to
discover that he was always like that.
I worked much more closely with John after he
was elected President of the Missionary Church
and my appreciation for him continued to grow.
I was now working with World Partners and
John always took a strong interest in what we
were doing. He cheered us on and supported his
staff. John’s style of leadership created a sense
of family that made us proud to be part of the
Missionary Church.
I traveled internationally with John numerous
times for World Partners. His missionary heart
by David Mann
was apparent. He saw through labels to the
heart of a person. Once we had a chance to visit
Mother Theresa. After meeting with this lady
who embodied Christ in all she did and said John
observed, “I feel like I have just been with Jesus.”
Regardless of a person’s religious affiliation, if that
person loved Jesus and was trying to live for Him,
that’s what counted for John.
On another occasion, John, Retha, my daughter
Erika and I were in a sleeper car together between
St. Petersburg and Moscow. I found that John
and I shared a love for the Chicago Cubs. And we
both snored. According to Retha and Erika, it was
a pretty rough night as John and I slept while they
listened to us sleep.
A few years later World Partners had a difficult
leadership issue. I told John I would resign if that
would help. His reply was, “If you resign so will
I.” John always believed in his team and would
support his staff to the end.
My last contact with John came this past
summer. We had lunch so I could say thank you
for his leadership and his special place in my life.
I thanked him especially for being so supportive
during my early years with World Partners. In
John’s humble way he turned it around to say, “I
don’t know that I did anything so special. I am the
one who should be thanking you for your support
of me.”
Whenever a person met with John it was
always, “What you see is what you get.” He
never tried to be anything but himself. He was
very humble, always encouraging, transparent and
principled; a man of integrity and a great example
of Christ.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
David Mann is director of World Partners USA.
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M I S S I O N A R Y C H U R C H T O D AY
Construction of the City
Bethlehem is made of approximately
150 8x8 Styrofoam panels. It took
thousands of hours of labor to
construct the city the first time, with
three years of planning leading up to
the first year. The Styrofoam is shaped
with a hot iron and painted to look like
mud, stone and brick. Each piece is
numbered for easy construction. Parts
of the city are 16 feet tall. We start
construction on Monday and do the
finishing touches on Friday. It takes
about 25 people to completely set up
the city. The streets (floor) are created
by putting down used carpet and
covering it with sand and compost.
The manger scene is created in our
kitchen serving window with papiermâché’ sheets that look like cave
walls. With special lighting effects, the
city takes on a glow of twilight. Live
animals: sheep, chickens, donkeys,
etc. and a mud pit to make bricks, plus
the sounds of people yelling, make for
an unforgettable experience.
by Norm Fuller
Bethlehem Marketplace is a unique ministry that Fairview Missionary Church in Angola, Indiana, has done the last 24
years. The church’s gym and hallways are turned into the streets of Bethlehem the day after Christ was born. We started
this ministry in 1990 after seeing similar ministries done by other churches. It’s always scheduled for the first Saturday
and Sunday in December, 1:00 to 5:00 PM both days. Bethlehem Marketplace has become an outreach ministry that has
captured the tri–state area.
Basket Weavers – Robin Kinney and Dawn Owsley
Breads – Paula Thomas and daughter, Erin
Tanner – Chris Belpasso
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Fish Seller – Derald Moore
Stone Cutter – Scott Beam
Olive Oil – Marilyn Lampman
M I S S I O N A R Y C H U R C H T O D AY
Cast
Our cast for Bethlehem Marketplace
is made up entirely of FMC people.
Many people do the same characters
each year so they “own” their area of
the marketplace. It takes a cast of 200
people to make the city run. Usually
they are “on stage” in two hour
shifts each day. The cast is really in a
two–hour play that never rests. Some
cast members have scripts to follow
but most create their own as the play
progresses. Live babies play Jesus in
the manger scene. The marketplace is
a walk–through drama; you may linger
as long as you want in any area. Some
of the events and sellers in the city
include: King Herod and the prophets
arguing about the coming Messiah,
Roman guards pushing the travelers
through the city (don’t let them push
you around), scribes, slave traders,
musicians, tent makers, stone cutters,
brick makers, jailer, animal traders,
carpenters, tanners, perfumers, seller
of doves, bread–makers, tailors, fruit
and vegetable vendors, shepherds,
beggars, and many more.
Music
Because the streets are so crowded,
travelers to Bethlehem are asked to
wait in the church sanctuary to hear
Christmas music presented by FMC
musicians. The music program runs
for about one hour before any songs
are repeated. Many travelers return to
the sanctuary after visiting the city just
to hear the musicians.
Costumes
Much research is devoted to
costumes, to make them authentic.
They are stored at the church and
used exclusively for BMP. All the
costumes were made by our own
people. With 200 cast members,
many working one of two shifts, it
takes over 300 costumes to outfit the
cast. Many people have made their
own costumes and keep them at
home to use every year.
Media Coverage
The Marketplace has been a 30–
minute program on local TV. Regional
magazines cover it extensively and
our local newspaper gives it great
coverage each year, often with a full
page spread with photos.
Special Invitation
We extend a special invitation to
Missionary Church people. If we
know ahead of time you’re coming,
we’ll give you a ‘behind the scenes’
look at the city. You can go above
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13
the city for a bird’s eye view and
meet the cast and crew in the break
room. Christian schools that may be
studying Middle East history at the
time of Christ have a special
invitation too.
Traveling to Bethlehem
Travelers come from as far as Toledo,
Chicago, Indianapolis and Dayton
just to experience BMP. The first
question they are asked as they enter
the city is “Did you travel far? Head
of household sign here and pay your
taxes.” Taxes are paid by gold and
silver coins that each traveler is given.
Coins not used to pay the tax collector
can be given to beggars in the streets
or left as a gift for Baby Jesus. About
100,000 people have traveled the
BMP streets over the years, some
making it an annual event. The crowd
on Sunday is larger than on Saturday.
We encourage you to attend on
Saturday, especially if you are coming
with a group.
Find Out More
Fairview Missionary Church is located
in the northeast corner of Indiana
close to the Michigan and Ohio
state lines. If you would like to visit
Bethlehem Marketplace this year,
go to our website for directions:
www.fairview-missionary.org.
Please contact us at 260–665–8402,
if you’re bringing a group and would
like a behind–the–scenes tour. For a
YouTube preview, you can go online
to: http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=7HeHo4oieiU
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Rev. Norm Fuller has been pastor of Fairview
Missionary Church since 1974. He is a 1970
graduate of Bethel College.
M I S S I O N A R Y C H U R C H T O D AY
H O P E
for the Church
by Bob Ransom
WINTER 2013-2014
14
M I S S I O N A R Y C H U R C H T O D AY
Dismal digits in Europe, Canada,
the U.S.A.
Most of us know the downward
trends in the Western church.
Many studies and statistics support
the evidence. In Western Europe,
while 60% to 70% claim to be
“Christian,” as many as half of the
people have never been in a church
for anything other than a christening,
wedding or funeral. Fifty–percent
or more have never heard a Gospel
message preached or heard worship
and praise music. In most Western
European countries, less than two–
percent of the population would
claim to be evangelical.
The decline in Canada is
marked by similar statistics with
a few decades’ lag. Mainline
denominations are declining
rapidly. One significant difference
is that some Canadian evangelical
denominations are growing at levels
of ten percent to even 40%. The
Evangelical Missionary Church is
among those demonstrating growth.
Similar patterns are in evidence
in the United States. Mainline
churches are in free fall. The overall
attendance in U.S. churches on
an average Sunday is now being
calculated at 17% to 18% of the
population. For years pollsters
calculated weekly attendance
at about 40% of the population.
Further analytical research has
demonstrated that the 40% figure
was a result of the halo effect:
people who claim to be Christian but
don’t want to be seen in a bad light
for not attending church; and from
people who do attend, just not as
often as they claim.
Dr. Thom S. Rainer notes
there is less commitment to
church attendance today, even in
evangelical churches. In a church of
200 people who basically never miss
a Sunday, if half of the members miss
just one Sunday a month, the average
attendance drops to 175.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s
George Barna and other researchers
predicted steep declines in the
number of churches in America. It
was based on the trends of several
decades in which two– to four–times
as many churches were closing as
were being planted. Things have
changed. Currently 4,000 new
churches start every year, compared
to 3,500 churches that close.
Hope Lives
There are many reasons for hope.
Twenty–percent of all churches in
America are growing, a significant
improvement over previous decades
when only five– to ten–percent of
churches were growing. Another
encouraging sign: many new
churches are reaching young adults.
And discipleship is a foundation for
more and more new churches, and
trends in older established churches
are beginning to reverse.
Cultural Christianity is declining.
Lifeless churches are dying. However,
the Church is always growing and
reaching new people for the cause
of Christ. Churches are being started
to multiply disciples. Churches are
re–engaging the mission of the Great
Commission in their communities.
One church multiplier says, “We
have heard that young people are
fleeing the church in America in
droves. This may be true, but as we
keep proclaiming the Gospel...not just
the news about God reconciling us
to Himself through the work of His
Son...but also the news about God
inviting us to join Him in the ministry
of reconciliation...we are seeing
numerous young professionals come
to life. As people are embracing this
2,000–year–old paradigm for the
very first time, they have begun to
look at every aspect of their lives
through a different lens. Work isn’t
just a place to make money, and the
neighborhood in which they reside
isn’t just a place where they sleep...
these are places where they are
on mission with Jesus. As these
folks have become disciple–making
disciples, the hope of the Gospel
has been spreading into various
spheres of culture such as politics,
entertainment, education, design, and
business, just to name a few. Today
there is hope, because today there
are new missionaries...ranging from
lawyers to comedians and everything
in between. And the biggest
surprise...this all has taken root and
shape through those 20– to 30–year–
olds who were once
missing–in–action.”
More good news: there is hope in
our established churches. As a part
of training and coaching On Mission,
pastors teach the congregation a plan
of salvation. The leaders pick a plan
from several suggested, then teach
it during a Sunday morning service.
After the message, the people
practice it. The idea is to help the
people know how to lead someone
to Jesus if the opportunity arises, so
they don’t have to tell the people they
encounter to go to the pastor or go to
church to be saved.
A Case in Point
A local church did this. They picked
the Gideon plan of salvation, from
the back of the Gideon Bibles. The
pastor taught the plan and then
had the people practice. He told
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the congregation to role–play: one
person was the believer and one
was the explorer, and go through the
plan. They were shocked when four
people said they had never actually
accepted Christ and they wanted to
that very morning. There was a great
time of celebration, worship, crying,
excitement and joy following all this,
during about 25 minutes of sharing
at the end of the service. It was
incredibly powerful.
Another multiplier of disciples
says, “Every statistic points toward
a stagnation—nay, decline, in the
American church. While a ‘back–
patting denial’ (“We’re doing just
fine…”) may keep us doing ministry
as usual, I am jazzed by a surging
uprising of Holy Spirit–led prophetic
voices and revolutionary catalytic
strategists. The ‘doers’ are responding
to the watchmen on the wall and God
is setting them apart for a fresh work!
“Like those who responded to the
voices of Ezra and Nehemiah, I see a
new wave of ‘builders’ committed to
the Scriptures and to the discipleship
practices of Jesus. My hope is
fueled because I see this all across
the country and around the world by
people who march together because
they are clearly hearing the same
cadence… the drumbeat of the Holy
Spirit. It doesn’t get any better than
that kind of Hope.”
So, is there hope for the church
in America? Definitely, because it is
the Church of Jesus Christ and He
will continue to build His Church. His
Holy Spirit is moving and transforming
lives. In Him there is hope for
the church.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Rev. Ransom is Director of U.S. Ministries
for the Missionary Church. He has overseen
church planting for two decades.
M I S S I O N A R Y C H U R C H T O D AY
What’s in a City?
When someone uses the word City, each of us
pictures what a city is, based upon our experiences and
preconceptions. Having lived in New York City for almost
seven years, I’ve noticed that there are ‘cities’ within a city,
each with its own needs and challenges, as well as its own
opportunities for Gospel renewal. Let’s consider some of
these cities–within–a–city and celebrate what God is doing.
The Inner City may be our most common
preconception of the city, because the church’s conscience
is often moved by poverty, violence, and social decay.
Compassionate ministry centers, social programs, and
para–church ministries attempted to reverse the trends.
The Inner City now has a greater appreciation for
church and tends to be the most evangelical of the city’s
neighborhoods.
City Centers tend to be hyper–secular and very
influential in shaping the culture’s direction. Residents
of City Centers are highly competent at what they do,
physically comfortable, spiritually tolerant, and don’t sense
an obvious need for rescue. However, their relational
distress, emotional weariness and spiritual confusion
present great opportunity to share the Gospel. While the
Inner City wears its pain on its sleeve, the City Centers
simply hides it better.
Immigrant Enclaves are bright with hope for Gospel
renewal. As immigrants moved to America’s cities they
brought a vibrant form of Christianity shaped in the
movements of the Spirit in Africa and South America, for
example. When immigrants arrived, they connected at
a local church as a source of survival. Now their children
have grown up to occupy places of influence in the city,
still deeply impacted by the Gospel. They share that same
hope with their secular workmates and classmates with
lasting Gospel impact.
The International Hubs within our cities share a strong
connection to other major world cities. As these hubs are
reached, their people, who are here today, gone tomorrow,
are taking the Gospel with them to the next international
city or back to their home city.
Even in the Historic Neighborhoods of cities, there is
growth of Gospel churches. While these city parts share
an historic culture or religion such as Judaism, Catholicism
or Orthodoxy, many expressions of the church are
WINTER 2013-2014
16
emerging. Rather than act to dismantle beautiful traditions
and culture, the church accentuates those traditions in the
new faith community.
Story after story is being written by disciple–makers who
have found their own city–within–a–city and are creatively
living out the Gospel there. They have such hope for their
city, but why should we?
From Where Does Our Hope for the Cities Come?
One can’t pick a worse place than Sodom (Genesis
18:16) as Abraham was told that judgment was coming.
Abraham mistakenly believed there was hope for the city
as long as he could convince God that Sodom met the
‘minimum level of righteousness.’ He asked God to save
Sodom based on the number of good people there. If
Abraham had admitted that no city deserves God’s mercy,
and no prayers would be enough to gain its rescue, and
instead appealed to God’s love to save cities in spite of
Sodom’s awful reputation, what might God have done?
The hope for cities is found in God’s saving grace, not in
righteousness or prayers.
Nineveh was viewed by Jonah as a deservingly hopeless
city (Jonah 1–4). Jonah appealed to God’s justice and
pleaded for God to curse the city. God’s response should
be ours: “What? Are you saying that I should not save
such a great city?” God described Nineveh as a great city
because it could be a great city if he saved it. Hope for
cities lies in the heart of God, not in our estimation of the
city’s lack of potential.
Babylon reminds me of what many Christians say when
they visit New York City. How did we get to live in this
awful place? Jerusalem was so much better than Babylon,
but God told the exiles to live in such a way that Babylon
would thrive. (Jeremiah 29:4–7)
4
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel,
says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem
to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant
gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have
sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give
your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have
sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not
decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the
city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the
Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
M I S S I O N A R Y C H U R C H T O D AY
Our hope for the cities comes
from a God Who inspires His people
to say: “We love this place. We
aren’t going to leave it. We will find
ways to prosper every aspect of
its culture. And we will pray for its
peace, not its judgment. And we
believe God will continue to send
workers to His harvest fields in
the cities.”
Christ of the Cities
Everywhere I go in my city, I
bump into many others who could
live elsewhere, but who deeply
love the good and the bad of the
city, and are finding ways to make
the city prosper. These friends look
at the city as Jesus looked at His
city (Luke 19:41). They weep over
it, not because it’s a bad place, but
because the city doesn’t recognize
how much God loves it and wants
to restore it. They see the crowds
like Jesus did (Matthew 9:35), and
they have compassion on their city,
as harassed by the evil one, helpless
without the Gospel, like sheep with
no one to protect them and give
them direction. And like Jesus, they
see how ready the cities are for
harvest workers.
If Christ could look with such
compassion at a city that was
preparing to end his life and earthly
ministry, and if Christ willingly laid
down his life for that same city, then
He will empower us to do the same
for our cities. Above all and in all, He
is the Hope of the Cities.
H O P E
for the Cities
by Jeff Getz
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Rev. Jeff Getz serves on the Missionary
Church Ministry Leadership Council and is
Regional Director of the Eastern Region,
headquartered in New York City.
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M I S S I O N A R Y C H U R C H T O D AY
WORLDPARTNERS
Anti–trafficking is a current worldwide issue, but World Partners staff member Janet Nickel
started dealing with this subject in Sierra Leone, West Africa, long before it became a
“hot topic.” Human trafficking is the exploitation of an individual forced to participate in
prostitution, unpaid sexual services or involuntary labor.
Bringing Hope
Janet Nickel
Ruth (left) with Janet (right) speaking
about trafficking
Janet giving a
presentation about
trafficking
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M I S S I O N A R Y C H U R C H T O D AY
to a Dark Place
by Jennifer Platt
Janet is a World Partners staff person working for World
Hope International. She is the anti–trafficking technical
advisor for the Faith Alliance Against Slavery and Trafficking
(FAAST) and for the Trafficking in Persons Recovery
Center. The purpose of FAAST is to strengthen community
awareness and the criminal justice response to trafficked
persons in Sierra Leone. Janet says, “My ministry of
putting the message of anti–trafficking in front of people
gives hope to victims of this crime.”
Though Janet has been working on the mission field
for 33 years, her interest in anti–trafficking began in 2004
while she was working with refugees in Guinea, West
Africa. She came into contact with a nine–year–old girl
who was traveling with a man and his family, but was not
related to them. Janet knew the girl was at great risk of
being used and exploited by this man. She felt she had
to intervene and could not allow the girl to continue to
travel with the family. Janet informed the authorities who
intercepted the child and had the girl separated from the
man. That quest has become her life’s mission.
Janet feels the Holy Spirit has given her a strong sense
of justice. Being an advocate, standing up and pressing
for the dignity of individuals who do not have the means
to advocate for themselves has become one of her
life’s missions. She is also concerned about lives being
transformed by following Jesus.
When a person is vulnerable and has no one to speak
up for them, it is a hopeless and exploitative situation.
Janet has witnessed firsthand that the removal of victims
from these situations not only heals and restores these
individuals physically and spiritually, but also gives
them hope.
Many of Janet’s daily tasks are administrative, but they
are all crucial to the mission of putting an end to trafficking.
She is involved with reviewing and implementing policies,
procedures and logistics at the shelter. Janet represents
World Hope International at meetings regarding anti–
trafficking policies and procedures. She also often holds
training events with many different agencies.
Janet’s direct contact with survivors on a daily basis is
limited, but several stories from trafficked victims have left
an imprint on her. Ruth, her friend and former roommate,
tells one such story. Ruth was a victim who had been used
and exploited before she came to stay with Janet. She
was constantly sad and unhappy in her daily life, but now
she is truly happy and smiles on a daily basis. Ruth has
been able to reintegrate into a healthy life working with a
ministry to vulnerable women and has rejoined her family.
The individuals working with trafficking victims at the
recovery center are Christians. They use Bible stories and
passages to help the victims heal spiritually. What gives
Janet hope is that she sees God moving in the lives of
the people at the recovery center. They are transformed
as they come to know Christ and their lives are changed
by Him. These people are walking with God and they are
impacting others within their spheres of influence, which in
turn is making an eternal impact.
Janet says, “There are things individuals who want to
fight anti–trafficking can do. They can share awareness
of what it is and who it does affect. They can also pray. I
believe the power of praying and listening to God cannot
be overestimated. What gives me hope is that Jesus cares
about the people of Sierra Leone and their future.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ms. Platt is part of World Partners support staff in Fort Wayne, IN
WINTER 2013-2014
19
M I S S I O N A R Y C H U R C H T O D AY
WORLDPARTNERS
Dave Mann, director
of World Partners
addresses the Asia
Disciple Maker group at a
meeting held in Thailand.
Disciple Maker’s
Network in Asia
The total group divided up into
smaller groups to allow more
interaction and sharing.
There were seven disciple maker
representatives from India at the conference.
Various groups presented music from their
region of the world as part of worship and
devotional times during the meetings.
by Shaun Futch
From September 29 to October 3,
2013, 36 people from 11 nations
gathered in Chiang Mai, Thailand,
to participate in the Asia Disciple
Maker’s Network Conference.
While leaders of World Partners organized and
hosted the event, a sizable percentage of the
participants have no official relationship with our
denomination. There was great diversity in the
personalities, cultures and ministries represented
and a strong sense of unity to our commitment to
fulfill the Great Commission on the world’s most
populous continent.
Over the course of four days, Christian leaders
from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Mongolia,
Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia and
the United States spent many hours learning from
and sharing with one another. While numerous
topics were discussed, the foundation of our time
together was a discussion about the core values
of this network of people committed to multiplying
disciples of Jesus Christ. We revisited the roots
of this movement in Africa and celebrated how
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M I S S I O N A R Y C H U R C H T O D AY
God has used the discipleship training to lead tens
of thousands of people to faith in Jesus Christ
throughout the world. Some of the most exciting
stories of God’s amazing work have taken place
in Asia.
One of the highlights of the conference
was a panel discussion in which four men and
women from Myanmar, Nepal, Indonesia and
India shared how they multiply disciples in their
ministries. One panelist told of a Buddhist monk
who came to Christ within the past year. In spite
of significant persecution from family members
and the community, this new disciple remains
faithful to Jesus, and now he has influenced four
more monks who have decided to follow Christ.
Another panelist shared how he travels throughout
mountainous areas of two countries sharing the
gospel in village after village and training those
who believe how to make disciples. His 750 first
generation disciples have multiplied into thousands
of followers of Christ in the region. The other two
panelists shared equally inspiring stories of what
God is doing as they walk in obedience to the
Holy Spirit.
Other highlights of the conference
included a panel discussion on
building bridges of peace that
help to open doors for the Gospel.
Others gave regional reports
highlighting what God is doing in
their various countries. Attendees
also enjoyed musical performances
from Bangladesh, India, Mongolia
and Indonesia. Lorelei VerLee,
president of Creative Women of the
World, spent the better part of a day
explaining how God has used her
ministry to empower women and
their communities around the world.
Perhaps the most striking element
of her presentation was when she
challenged us to focus on developing
the assets God has placed in a
person’s life or in a community
instead of trying to fill needs.
One of the most valuable aspects
of our time together is the forming
of partnerships that result in the
multiplication of disciples. It was
very encouraging to see a brother
from Bangladesh who had attended
last year’s conference return with
two other leaders with whom he
partners. During the past 18–months,
network leaders from India and
Myanmar were able to help the
work in Bangladesh move forward
as they provided training and
coaching in discipleship principles.
The network is most effective
when it functions with only one
hub: Jesus Christ. The goal is to
establish and strengthen partnerships
between national ministers and
missionaries throughout Asia so that
the Kingdom of God will expand
and multiply. Several conference
attendees reiterated how important
it is to guard against methods and
organizations getting in the way of
organic growth.
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Many of the blessings of the 2013
Asia conference were experienced
outside the conference room. We
enjoyed many delicious meals
together and were encouraged as we
engaged in informal conversations.
Some participants were blessed with
opportunities to share the Gospel
with shopkeepers in Chiang Mai’s
famous Night Bazaar market. Only
God knows the extent to which He
will use the Asia network to shower
His love upon the peoples of this
teeming region of the world. But
the possibilities are numerous and
exciting. Those who attended were
refreshed, strengthened and further
equipped to be fruitful ambassadors
of Christ in Asian nations where
literally billions of people desperately
need Him.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Shawn Futch serves in Thailand as Regional
Strategy Coordinator for Asia with
World Partners
M I S S I O N A R Y C H U R C H T O D AY
Through ages and eons, we’ve hoped
in many things to meet our needs, satisfy
our longings, feed our appetites, save
our bacon. Only in Christ are the greatest
human hopes realized, but humanity still
hopes in all the wrong places.
Abraham hoped his little white lie, “Sarai is my sister,”
would keep him safe. Lot hoped Sodom would be more
exciting than the boring hills of Canaan. Moses hoped his
beleaguered fellow Israelites would trust him, Pharaoh’s
adopted grandson, and thus find relief. David hoped
Bathsheba’s beauty would make him feel virile again.
Jeroboam hoped the golden calves would keep the
Israelites away from Jerusalem and reunification with
Judah. Hezekiah hoped for status and stature by showing
Babylon all his riches.
Then there was Jesus. His followers hoped he would
overthrow the hated Romans and restore glory to Israel.
Even as He stood on the Mount of Olives, ready to return
to His Father, they still asked, “Lord, are you at this time
going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). After all
He had done, many were still disappointed.
Through history people have misplaced hope in things
simply incapable of satisfying their hopes. In the process,
we have proven Proverbs 14:12 time and again: “There is
a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way
of death.”
Riding the
Take, for example, Henry VIII, who defied the Pope
and church tradition to divorce his Spanish wife, Catherine
of Aragon, in a desperate ploy to sire a male heir. After
she produced only a surviving daughter, Mary, and after
Elizabeth was born to Ann Boleyn, along came Edward,
son of wife number three, Jane Seymour. Edward
acceded to the throne at age nine, but soon died. Henry’s
peccadilloes spawned the rhyme, “King Henry the Eighth,
to six wives he was wedded. One died, one survived, two
divorced, two beheaded.” As Proverbs asserts, Henry’s
pathway seemed right to him, but in the end it led to a lot
of death.
Another Englishman with high hopes was Neville
Chamberlain. In September 1938 Europe braced for
war, and the British Prime Minister went off to see Hitler,
hoping his foreign policy of appeasement could avert war.
Upon his return, he was greeted by huge crowds cheering
his alleged success. High hopes or not, his “peace for our
time” soon evaporated, the Nazis struck, and 450,000
British subjects died.
Sports, too, has traveled the hope roller coaster. Gerry
Cooney, a Long Island Irishman, was labeled the “Great
White Hope” at a time when boxing was being dominated
by African Americans. The slightly racist idea in many
minds was, “Maybe Cooney can get the heavyweight
championship back into white hands” (hence the
nickname). He won his first 25 fights, including a knockout
of former champ Ken Norton. Then he lost a championship
fight with Larry Holmes. Hope fizzled that he would ever
win the title. He did not.
Elizabeth Taylor epitomized the unrequited hope of
romantic love. Married eight times to seven men (she
remarried Richard Burton but the “re–hope” quickly
evaporated), Taylor once explained, “If number six doesn’t
make me happy, I hope number seven will.” Apparently
her hope for happiness was never realized, not with
Conrad Hilton, Michael Wilding, Mike Todd (he died before
they could divorce), Eddie Fisher (Todd’s best friend),
co–star Richard Burton, Senator John Warner nor Larry
Fortensky, whom Taylor met during one of many rehabs at
the Betty Ford Center.
In the world of business, hope springs eternal—not!
Steve Jobs, an original founder of Apple Computers,
came back as CEO when the company floundered in
1996, and for a time confirmed the high hopes others had
placed in him. By 1998 Apple was back. Yet, like everyone
before him, Jobs had feet of clay. With Apple riding high,
he announced that he was battling a malignant pancreatic
tumor. He succumbed in 2011.
Charles Dawson “discovered” Piltdown Man in a
gravel pit in East Sussex, England in 1912. He hoped to
prove evolution once for all. Hailed as the “missing link” in
1912, by 1953 the skull and jawbone proved to be from a
modern human and an orangutan, respectively. Darwinian
Evolutionists were disappointed, but alas, undeterred.
Interferon is a protein made naturally in humans and
synthesized in the laboratory. As it became better–known
in the 1950s and’60s, great hopes were raised
by researchers that it would prove to be the fabled, elusive
cure for cancer. Today those grandiose hopes have
Roller
Coaster
by Curtis Alexander
vanished, though Interferon has proved useful in
combating Sarcoma and Melanoma, and Hepatitis–C.
Colorado native and mental patient, John Hinckley Jr.,
hoped that by shooting a president he could win the heart
of actress Jodie Foster. He hoped to impress the Yale
college student in 1981 when he shot Ronald Reagan in
Washington D.C. Just before the assassination attempt, he
wrote to Foster:
Over the past seven months I’ve left you dozens of
poems, letters and love messages in the faint hope
that you could develop an interest in me. Although we
talked on the phone a couple of times I never had the
nerve to simply approach you and introduce myself...
The reason I’m going ahead with this attempt now is
because I cannot wait any longer to impress you.
—John Hinckley, Jr.
Soon after his trial, Hinckley wrote that the shooting was
“the greatest love offering in the history of the world” and
was upset that Foster did not reciprocate his love.
Which brings us full circle to the One who really offered
the greatest love offering in the history of the world—
Jesus Christ. Even He seemed to disappoint those who
hoped in Him. Instead of a military–political revolution,
He led a love–in still unrivaled in human history. On Good
Friday it seemed hope died gruesomely on a Roman cross.
Then, hope was reborn early on Easter morning.
Simply put, in the words of 4–Him’s ’90s hit, “The
Basics of Life”:
We need to get back to the basics of life, A heart that is
pure, and a love that is blind,
A faith that is fervently grounded in Christ, A hope
that endures for all time;
These are the basics — We need to get back to
the basics of life.1
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1
“The Basics of Life” by Mark Harris, Andy Chrisman, Marty Magehee
and Kirk Sullivan, © 1992 Paragon Music / A–Knack–For–This Music /
Point Clear Music / ASCAP; UBP.
Missionary Church, Inc.
PO Box 9127
Fort Wayne, IN 46899-9127
“No Limit”
The
Christmas
It used to bother Mike Kirk a lot. But now it didn’t—not
much. When your birthday is December 23, you get used
to it being overshadowed by Christmas.
Mike studied the disparate collection of oddball birthday
gifts from his crew at work. A homely mug with “Because
I said so!” scrawled across the side (yes, I am the boss).
The far–out tie—where do you even find such outlandish
gifts? The electric zigzags of bawdy color hinted at a
migraine waiting to happen. He’d have to wear it at least
once, but only at work; never—Never ever—at church!
Then there was the unimaginative gift card from the
gigantic chain discount store in town; a Deal•mart card
with no dollar amount on it. He’d call the toll–free number
to find out how much it was worth.
Mike’s eyes shifted to the newspaper article he had
been brooding over. Oakland was in economic funk, the
county budget awash in red ink, and the newspaper
reported that 31 kids in the foster care system would go
without anything for Christmas. What could he do?
Glancing at the Deal•mart card again, he decided: at
least I could use it to help a couple of kids, maybe younger
ones not yet hardened by the disappointments of life.
Can’t have kids thinking Jesus’ birthday is a bummer.
He turned the card over and dialed the 1–877– number.
After holding for several minutes, Marques came on the
line. “Thank you for calling Deal•mart. How may I help you,
sir? You want the balance on your gift card? Please hold.”
More elevator music, then Marques again: “Uh, I have
good news for you. The balance on your card says ‘No
limit!’ It’s your lucky day!”
Mike’s head snapped up. No limit? How could that be?
The customer service rep said, “My supervisor
can explain.”
After “Winter Wonderland” played through twice, a
different voice: “Hello Mr. Kirk, I’m Sheila Johnson.
By Curtis Alexander
How can I help you?” Mike explained
the situation, adding, “Should I return
this card to the store?”
Johnson’s voice sounded hollow
from long distance. “Actually, Mr. Kirk,
this is a promotion from Deal•mart.
There are three ‘No Limit’ cards out
there, strategically placed around the
country by our marketing department.
When the first one was discovered,
the news coverage was huge.
You know, YouTube went viral, the
reporting was massive. When it
got out that there might be more of
the ‘No Limit’ cards in circulation,
sales of Deal•mart gift cards went
through the roof.” She paused,
then added, “So, no you don’t
need to bring the card back. It’s
legit, but only through Christmas
Eve. Have fun shopping
for Christmas.”
Mike looked at the sad
newspaper story once more, a
broad smile spreading across his
face. “Thank you, God.” Would
he ever have fun, shopping for 31
needy kids. Then he dialed the
Oakland Press.
“Newsroom, Maggie Molloy,”
he heard in his ear.
“Maggie, my name is Mike Kirk.
Have I got a story for you!”