Yesterday I stopped by the grocery store to pick up some lunch fixin’s and happened to glance at the magazine rack as I waited in line to pay for my goods. Now the sin I have been most warned about as it relates to supermarket tabloids is that of lust. The plunging cleavage of female celebrities and salacious headlines detailing their exploits are said to be veritable ICBMs in the tempter’s arsenal. (more…)

American exceptionalism—the belief that our country stands apart from other nations in divine favor, potential, morality, etc.—has been imported to the church, personalized for the individual and then sanctified and elevated to a virtue. Each person—it is suggested—is born with a seed of greatness. Accepting mediocrity, ordinary-ness or normalcy is an offense against the God who made you for greatness and wants to “unleash” you into your “destiny.” (more…)

Monday, I spent the entire day doing a final edit of the revised edition [available soon!] of When God Comes Calling, Pioneers’ founder Ted Fletcher’s biography. In it are many accounts of cross-cultural workers around the world. I couldn’t help thinking of Jesus’ words on the Sabbath in Mark 2:27 when I read this story:

Kyrgyzstan - One Saturday evening, Pioneers team members Kathy and Tom Sansera (not their real names) were working on their language study when there was a knock on their apartment door. One of their neighbors was inviting them to join the yearly clean-up of their apartment grounds—at 9:00 the next morning. Tom explained that they went to church on Sunday morning, so they wouldn’t be able to help. The neighbor woman went away disappointed—and Tom and Kathay wondered if they had made the right decision. Wasn’t God honored by their decision to testify to a stranger on His behalf, especially in this Muslim and secular nation? Then the Lord reminded them of the Good Samaritan, and the Sanseras realized their decision would make them like the priest who hurried to his religious duties instead of helping a needy stranger. The next morning, Tom ran down four flights of stairs to tell their neighbor that they had changed their minds. When she asked, “Why?” Tom had an opportunity to put his language study to good use. He shared the story about how a wounded Jewish traveler was helped by a despised Samaritan. The Kyrgyz woman listened intently to every word and then smiled. Tom and Kathy spent the morning picking up trash and sweeping the grounds with handmade brooms. By the time the finished, they had met every person in their apartment building. It wasn’t the typical Sunday morning church service, but I believe God was very pleased with Tom and Kathy’s decision. The friendships they made will surely help them reach their goal to plant a church in this Muslim country.