ETHIOPIANCHURCH Blog

Liberty to Captives

2012-01-19T11:07:00.000-08:00

And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. [Jesus] unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.
And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. [Luke 4:17-21]

[T]hat through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. [Hebrews 2:14-15]

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. They answered him, We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free? Jesus replied, I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. [John 8:31-36]

The Rich Fool

2012-01-16T17:04:00.000-08:00

Rembrandt, 1627

Then [Jesus] said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them this parable:

“The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” [Luke 12: 15-21]

A Hamlin Tribe by the Rivers of Ethiopia

2012-01-04T17:31:00.000-08:00

A 1958 ad in The Lancet read: “Gynaecologist wanted to set up school of midwifery for nurses in the Princess Tsehai Memorial Hospital in Addis Ababa.” Answering the call were a New Zealander by the name of Reginald Hamlin [d. 1993] and his obstetrician Australian wife Catherine and their 6-year-old son Richard. Then the prospects for a decent pay were not there but they came any way because they loved Jesus and had a burning desire to help the poor. This is 53 years ago and counting!

In 1974 the Hamlins established a separate hospital to fully focus on fistulae patients – fistula is when obstructed labors tear the bladder and the uterus. Women in this condition were essentially pushed to the margins of society for the remainder of their short lives; that is to say until the Hamlins began their work. And then one by one they found relief from pain and shame and an abiding hope in the here and the hereafter. Every year sufferers by the hundreds travelled to the hospital on foot, on the back of a relative, a mule and a lorry crossing rivers and bridges on their way. To date over 25,000 have been successfully operated on and gone back to their villages to once again contribute to their community. Now add to the 25,000 the children they produced, the children their children produced and of course throw in aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews and you will understand why we think this is a real tribe bound together by suffering, hope, and joy!

Here is a chance for you to read and be inspired by an absorbing account of a couple’s story that, in a very organic way, is also a human story and a manifestation of God’s goodness. Consider, for example, how God crossed paths of so many people from different nationalities [Indians, Italians, Greeks, Armenians, Brits, and so on] and social, economic and academic standing in answer to prayers – often in the nick of time - to realize this beautiful work. Only God could do something like that!

Another point of fact is the Hamlins’ interaction with local culture and the love and respect that engendered through the years. In no way were Ethiopians romanticized or severely criticized by European standards. Ethiopians are as much owners of the narrative and the work as are the Hamlins. Ministering to needs run both ways in that the Hamlins ministered to the people as well as received help from those they ministered to. To recognize and allow those ‘from below’ to minister to us in the hour of our need does take some humility. Here is how Catherine narrated one such incident:

One morning, not long after Reg had died, I rose at 6 am and went out to sit on the verandah in the dawn to meditate and to pray, as had lately become my habit. On this occasion I was suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling that everything was too much for me and that I would never be able to run the hospital by myself.

I was not crying but evidently looked as though I was, as Birru [the groundskeeper] appeared and knelt by my chair. He took my hand in his, kissed the back of it and said, ‘Don’t leave us; we’ll all help you.’

I was so touched that I really did cry then but partly from relief and joy.

Birru’s words and actions were just what I needed. They dispelled any thoughts of not carrying on. I began to realize the enormous blessings that I had, and the future seemed suddenly bright and exciting” [parenthesis added; p.245].

We highly recommend The Hospital By The River to those who desire to serve the Lord. It should be a required reading in seminaries/colleges and a resource book for medical and development practitioners and for historians and ministerial staff. The story is, first and foremost, about commitment; a commitment as between a husband and a wife. We live in an age where commitment is losing its deeper meaning. The times we live in asks, Why be stuck with one when you could turn commitment into a series of conveniences? It appears the long term missionary is today an endangered species. Polls and stats come before prayers. It is no longer solely where He leads but where one wants to go and register quick results. In our considered opinion one cause for the current trend toward short term missions is not its efficacy to raise funds or do good in the name of Christ but also in not being able to discern God’s clear call. [Click] We believe the Hamlin story has a lot to offer in this regard. Here is a fitting benediction from the book:

But more than anything else, my heart is uplifted in thanks to God our Father, and our Savior Jesus Christ for all he has done for us. The future I leave in the hands of an Almighty and all-loving God – what could be more secure, as God is faithful? May we, too, be faithful [p.304].

ps: We suggest the book be translated into Amharic as a record of a social history and also to encourage the new generation [especially young women] into a life of service.

A Permanent Resolution for 2012 and Beyond

2011-12-31T17:15:00.000-08:00

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. [Philippians 3:7-14]

ETHIOPIANCHURCH

2011-12-24T07:50:00.000-08:00

በአማርኛ ለማንበብ እዚህ ይጫኑ፣

ETHIOPIANCHURCH.ORG

ጽሑፍ ካለዎ በ”ወርድ” ፋይል ይላኩልን፣

በጸሎትና ለወዳጆችዎ ድረ ገጻችንን በማስተዋወቅ የጌታን ሥራ ያግዙ።

ሁላችን የእግዚአብሔርን ልጅ በማመንና በማወቅ ወደሚገኝ አንድነት፥ ሙሉ ሰውም ወደ መሆን፥ የክርስቶስም ሙላቱ ወደሚሆን ወደ ሙላቱ ልክ እስክንደርስ ድረስ፥ ቅዱሳን አገልግሎትን ለመሥራትና ለክርስቶስ አካል ሕንጻ ፍጹማን ይሆኑ ዘንድ። እንደ ስሕተት ሽንገላ ባለ ተንኮል በሰዎችም ማታለል ምክንያት በትምህርት ነፋስ ሁሉ እየተፍገመገምን ወዲያና ወዲህም እየተንሳፈፍን ሕፃናት መሆን ወደ ፊት አይገባንም፥ ነገር ግን እውነትን በፍቅር እየያዝን በነገር ሁሉ ወደ እርሱ ራስ ወደሚሆን ወደ ክርስቶስ እንደግ፤ ከእርሱም የተነሣ አካል ሁሉ እያንዳንዱ ክፍል በልክ እንደሚሠራ፥ በተሰጠለት በጅማት ሁሉ እየተጋጠመና እየተያያዘ፥ ራሱን በፍቅር ለማነጽ አካሉን ያሳድጋል። እንግዲህ አሕዛብ ደግሞ በአእምሮአቸው ከንቱነት እንደሚመላለሱ ከእንግዲህ ወዲህ እንዳትመላለሱ እላለሁ [ኤፌ 4፡12-17]

This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about

2011-12-23T09:20:00.000-08:00

His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of

Syria

.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth… Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. [Scripture verses are from the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John.]

Did Christopher Hitchens call upon Christ with his dying breath?

2011-12-21T09:56:00.000-08:00

Perhaps you are one of those who've never heard of Christopher Hitchens. Take heart; you are not alone. Hitchens is known only to a tiny band of atheists unlike atheists of the previous generation. The older folk were content to admit [when asked] that they are atheists and that they did not even mind you teaching your kids some religious morals. Not so with their successors who did not mince words about wanting to convert you to un-belief in God. If you have been complaining about Ethiopian atheists of the 1970s you have not seen the half of the New Atheists. The Ethiopian atheist will blast you in public on account of religion but never misses to attend Bahta Mariam or the annual feast of Qulubbi Gabriel.

Well, Hitchens was a brilliant Anglo-American essayist/journalist who gained notoriety for wanting to rid the world of faith in God! He spent his life talking about God and why God is bad for you and me. In fact, he wrote a book titled, God Is Not Great [Hachette Book, 2007]. It is sad that he passed away at a relatively young age of 62 on 16 December after suffering from smoke-related esophageal cancer compounded by hard drinking.

Hitchens might as well have turned to God considering how much of his talent was consumed by the subject. The fellow simply never missed a chance to talk about God. I am of the opinion that God, in His Infinite Wisdom, used Hitchens to remind people, otherwise unreachable, of the eternal consequences of rejecting or receiving His offer of love in and through Jesus Christ. I know Hitchens would not have agreed with this assessment but that is beside the point.

“As Hitchens' health failed,” reported NPR, “he made a pre-emptive strike against those who might claim he had a deathbed conversion. He reportedly confided to his friends that, in case his faculties failed him, to ‘defend my reputation as an atheist …If, God forbid, I say something about believing in God, say: This is the medication, this is dementia, this is not the Hitchens that we know.' "[Italics added]

Is it possible Hitchens did utter words he was afraid would pop out with his dying breath? Is it not telling that the name "Christopher" is the Greek for “bearer of Christ” and that he chose to 'preach' Christ by denying him? Another interesting fact is that Hitchens had for a physician the geneticist Dr. Francis Collins and author of The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief [Free Press, 2006]. Collins had prayed for Hitchens and encouraged hundreds to do the same. Do we know enough of the mysteries of prayer to conclude that prayers offered on Hitchens behalf were wasted? Another matter is Hitchens’ use above of the expression “God forbid.” Now, don’t quote me but I suspect he might have uttered those same words he was wishing to see suppressed and his atheist friends are unwilling to share because a lot is at stake for theirs and Hitchens’ reputation.

God is great!

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

2011-12-20T02:03:00.000-08:00

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

Please watch this testimony here.

Megachurch's Future

2011-12-05T21:28:00.000-08:00

ATLANTA (AP) — When Bishop Eddie Long was accused of sexual misconduct by former church members, his congregation rallied around him and his wife stood by his side. About a year later, the Atlanta megachurch pastor is headed for divorce and stepping away from the pulpit.

Long announced Sunday at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church that he needed a break from preaching to focus on his family. The hiatus leaves New Birth, which once boasted 25,000 members, at a crossroads, its reputation battered and membership dwindling. Their pasts inextricably linked for nearly a generation, both Long and his church face an uncertain future.

"A church is bigger than its pastor," said Goldie Taylor, who has attended New Birth in the past. "For too long, the New Birth family has acted as if it is smaller than its pastor. Its challenge going forward will be its ability to flip that and become a church without walls again."

For many members, Long has been the only pastor they have ever known. He became senior pastor in 1987, taking the helm of a flock of only a few hundred members. Not long after he arrived, the former Ford salesman and Honeywell executive dismissed New Birth's board of directors and took unilateral control of the church, ensuring that he would be the one to determine the date of his departure. [Bold italics added.]

New Birth grew quickly under its charismatic, dynamic young leader, swelling to 8,000 members in five years. A decade later New Birth boasted 18,000 members and the church paid cash for the land and sprawling property it currently occupies in DeKalb County — including a 10,000-seat sanctuary. In addition to its Lithonia, Ga., headquarters, the church has satellites in several cities including Miami, Charlotte and Denver and television and international ministries.

Many who joined the church under Long's tenure were attracted to the prosperity gospel that he preached and practiced. It was a message that mirrored an emerging black middle class in and around Atlanta. Unlike the traditional Southern Baptist preacher, Long owned a $350,000 Bentley and private jet, lived in a $1.4 million house with six bedrooms and nine bathrooms, adorned himself with diamond jewelry and read his sermons on an iPad.

Long's spiritual swagger inspired a loyal and protective congregation. In September 2010, when accusations swirled that he used his lavish lifestyle to seduce four young men into sexual relationships in exchange for cars, clothes and trips, New Birth members supported around their embattled leader, who vowed he was innocent and would fight the cases.

Long settled out of court eight months later for an undisclosed amount and has never admitted any wrongdoing. After that, some changed their opinion of him.

"Once the money was paid, it was like you're hiding something," said Donielle Marshall, who joined New Birth as a college student in 1999. "Did you lie to us? I look at him as just a common man, full of fault, but also a disgrace."

KaCey Venning said she left New Birth about a month after the allegations because she wanted a smaller church. She believes New Birth can get past its challenges "if they are able to stick together and not rally behind somebody in blind support."

"They need to focus getting back to their outreach, getting out in the community," Venning said. "If the focus is going to be around this particular person, if there's no New Birth without him ... there might be a problem."

Long's wife, Vanessa, filed for divorce last week after 21 years of marriage. The couple has three children and a fourth from Long's first marriage. In a statement released by the church, Vanessa Long said she may reconsider her decision to divorce, but her filing followed "attacks in the media that frustrated and overwhelmed me."

The Rev. Kenneth Samuel, who preceded Long, said the allegations hurt.

"With New Birth being as large and prevalent as it is, every church in the area has felt the impact," Samuel said. "And rightly so. I think there has to be a level of accountability. I think it's certainly possible for the church to carry on. My prayer is for growth and progress and to become more committed to open, honest dialogue and discussion."

Marshall said the church can be healed, but also thinks Long needs to step down permanently.

"All things can be renewed, but I think he needs to leave," she said. "Why continue to lead people when you are being dishonest? It shames the church, it shames the followers, and it shames him."

God Is Faithful

2011-12-03T21:08:00.000-08:00

Everywhere we look there seems to be some story of infidelity these days, of broken promises and breach of trust. There are plenty of instances where disloyalty is even condoned. The saddest of all is the fact that the church is not immune to all this. At such times there is no one to turn to than to the One True God who is forever faithful and known throughout the ages for keeping his word? Ed.

Here is a trustworthy saying: If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, For he cannot disown himself ...God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.

What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness?

God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

A faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
[2 Timothy 2:11,13; Numbers 23:19 ; Deuteronomy 7:9; Romans 3:3 ; 1 Corinthians 1:9; Titus 1:2;1 John 1:9]

Anti-Gay Sentiment Flares in Ethiopia as Addis Ababa Preps for AIDS Conference

2011-11-29T18:18:00.000-08:00

Source: VOA Ethiopia's religious leaders have abruptly canceled a news conference called to denounce a planned meeting of gay rights activists on the fringes of an international meeting on AIDS. Ethiopia's attitude toward homosexuality is shaping up as a potential flash point as some of the world's leading experts gather to discuss trends in AIDS treatment and prevention. The leaders of Ethiopia's main religious denominations faced journalists briefly in an Addis Ababa conference room Tuesday. Abune Paulos, the patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church was there, along with representatives of the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council, the Roman Catholic Church, and Protestant denominations. But before anything could be said, Ethiopia's Health Minister Tewodros Adhanom arrived and asked for a word with the religious leaders in private.
Abrupt postponement

After nearly an hour, the leaders left without comment. The Reverend Iteffa Gobena Molte, president of the Ethiopian Evangelical Council Mekane Yesus told reporters the event would be rescheduled. "It's postponed to another time. And when they are ready they will call upon you to come and record them," said Iteffa. Reporters initially were told the news conference had been called to condemn a planned conference on "men who have sex with men." The website of a group called the African Men for Sexual Health and Rights, or AMSHER, says the meeting is to be held Saturday at an Addis Ababa hotel. A list of speakers posted on the website include Michel Sidibe, director of UNAIDS, and Eric Goosby, the United States Global AIDS Coordinator.

Fighting AIDS

That gathering was to coincide with the 16th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa, which opens Sunday in the Ethiopian capital. More than 8,000 experts and activists are expected to attend, and former U.S. President George W. Bush is slated to be an honored guest. The sudden cancelation of the news briefing underscores Ethiopia's strong anti-gay sentiment. At a 2008 meeting with reporters, many of the same religious leaders urged passage of a constitutional amendment banning homosexuality. News reports at the time quoted the clergy as calling homosexuality “the pinnacle of immorality.” Ethiopian Orthodox leader Paulos was quoted as condemning gay sex, saying, “for people to act in this manner, they have to be stupid, like animals."

Condemnation of gay sex

Reverend Iteffa said Ethiopian Protestants believe homosexuality is unnatural. "The Protestant church teaches about homosexuality that it is not God's creation. God had created man and woman. So that is the proper creation and it continues to be there, and the Bible explicitly says in many parts of the Bible, so we claim that to be our faith as a Protestant," he said. A statement distributed to reporters at Tuesday's canceled news conference quoted a survey showing 97 percent of Ethiopians consider gay behavior immoral. It said scheduling a conference on homosexuality in Addis Ababa shows a disregard for Ethiopia's laws and morals. An email asking for AMSHER's response was not immediately answered. An official standing outside Tuesday's news conference site suggested that the intervention of the Health Ministry, a major backer of the AIDS conference, indicates that the AMSHER meeting might not take place. A call to the hotel being advertised as the meeting site showed no facilities are currently reserved in AMSHER's name.

Look At Me Now!

2011-11-28T12:15:00.000-08:00

I am “the” star
I can spin, like dust in the air . . .

I am the leaf, rotten dump in the mud
I am the forgotten son, I am that unwanted child

Look at me now!

I am the sea that swallows your land
I am your handicap; I am your shortest hand

I am the king who sits above it all
I am the slave who waits for the crumbs to fall

I am the rich, with riches untold
I am the poor, have hunger as a friend

I am the righteous, with clean feet and clean hand
I am the sinner, covered with splattered blood

Look at me now!

I am the sunshine, I am the rain
I am the pleasure, I am the pain

I am the joy, I am covered with smiles
I am the sorrow; I am your midnight tears

I am your dancing feet; I am your signature beat
I am your fear; I am your bloody sweat

I am you, I am me
I am us, I am he
I am them, I am she

But don’t look at me now, in me you find no good
I am not me, with Christ I am dead

Look at me through the blood
Look at me through Christ, through my eternal friend

Look at him now, and then look at you
Before your sun, set behind you

Before your eyes shut close, like a polished brass gate
Look at him now and receive His eternal gift . . .

© ZSM; Houston/Summer 2011

Signs of the Times

2011-11-26T07:22:00.000-08:00

[L] Americans at Target on Black Friday: Waiting for Goods;
[R] Russians at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior: Waiting for God?

Give Thanks

2011-11-14T16:08:00.000-08:00

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

[Luke 17: 11-17]

“Praise be to you, O LORD,

God of our father Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting.

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power

and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,

for everything in heaven and earth is yours.

Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;

you are exalted as head over all.

Wealth and honor come from you;

you are the ruler of all things.

In your hands are strength and power

to exalt and give strength to all.

Now, our God, we give you thanks,

and praise your glorious name.

[1 Chronicles 29: 10-13]

Gaddafi and Hell

2011-10-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

And so the Libyan leader Gaddafi died in the manner he lived. Violently. Every one seemed to agree that Gaddafi deserved to die. There were jubilant street scenes even as the cellphone-video of his bloodied body went viral. Some wished he would go straight to hell. These are thinking people hailing as far north as North America and Europe. These are the same crowd who more than likely would fight to abolish capital punishment or to uphold due process or rubbish off hand the existence of Hell and critique mercilessly the Bible for teaching such a gory and outmoded doctrine. It now appears there are exceptions to the rule. It is interesting how times like this often lay bare our true intentions, nature and the values we thought we've managed to hide. So what do we think of hell? Or more appropriately, what does the Bible teach on the subject? Here is a piece by Tim Keller that, we hope, could make the skeptic and the uninformed to think again. Ed.

In 2003 a research group discovered 64% of Americans expect to go to heaven when they die, but less than 1% think they might go to hell. Not only are there plenty of people today who don't believe in the Bible's teaching on everlasting punishment, even those who do find it an unreal and a remote concept. Nevertheless, it is a very important part of the Christian faith, for several reasons.

1. It is important because Jesus taught about it more than all other Biblical authors put together. Jesus speaks of "eternal fire and punishment" as the final abode of the angels and human beings who have rejected God (Matthew 25:41,46) He says that those who give into sin will be in danger of the "fire of hell" (Matthew 5:22; 18:8-9.) The word Jesus uses for 'hell' is Gehenna, a valley in which piles of garbage were daily burned as well as the corpses of those without families who could bury them. In Mark 9:43 Jesus speaks of a person going to "hell [gehenna], where 'their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.' " Jesus is referring to the maggots that live in the corpses on the garbage heap. When all the flesh is consumed, the maggots die. Jesus is saying, however, that the spiritual decomposition of hell never ends, and that is why 'their worm does not die.'

In Matthew 10:28 Jesus says, "Do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." He is speaking to disciples, some of whom will eventually be tortured, sawn in half, flayed and burned alive. Yet, he says, that is a picnic compared to hell. Clearly, for Jesus hell was a real place, since he said that after judgment day people would experience it in their bodies. Hell is a place not only of physical but also of spiritual misery.

Jesus constantly depicted hell as painful fire and "outer darkness" (Matt 25:30; cf. Jude 6,7,13,) a place of unimaginably terrible misery and unhappiness. If Jesus, the Lord of Love and Author of Grace spoke about hell more often, and in a more vivid, blood-curdling manner than anyone else, it must be a crucial truth. But why was it so important to Jesus? More here.

GOD OF THE HOMELESS

2011-10-18T06:24:00.000-07:00

GOD SAID HE IS SLEEPING ON THE STREETS TONIGHT WITH THE HOMELESS

GOD said I should remind people to wash the blankets first before they give them to the homeless, so that it is given with a good heart. GOD said if you have spare sleeping bags, sleeping bags are better and a small pillow. GOD said some of them are hungry. If you have a flask, put a hot drink in it, HE would appreciate it. GOD said HE is sleeping out on the streets with the homeless.

GOD said if you have any old warm jumpers and spare woolly socks, bring them with you, it's cold!

GOD said don't take the food or clothes to the shelters, they do not need them. GOD said HE will protect you, come in twos if you are afraid, the people who need it are underneath the railway arches and in the doorways of buildings in the cities and on the streets.

I wrote this song in 1994 after giving MY life to Jesus. In 1983 I was homeless for about 3 months. One night I was followed in the early hours of the morning while I was walking the streets after sleeping on people's doorsteps and I didn't feel safe in the big block of flats I was in and I was nearly murdered that night. I was almost 9 months pregnant and I was only 16 years old. Take a copy of the song and tell the homeless I love them and I'm sorry that I am in this house and they are on the streets.

GOD said if you have an empty building that you are not using, you can open it up and offer it to the homeless for the winter, because it is cold.

This song is for the homeless. I AM giving people permission to use this song. Any money made from this song, all the proceeds must go to the homeless and I don't want the money to be given to a charitable organisation, I want the money handed out on the streets to the individuals who are homeless, worldwide. I trust people are not going to be selfish.

COBBLE AND STONE

I was cold and I was hungry
Cobble and stone made my bed
I was crying and I was weeping
And you offered me your abode

When all I needed was a friend

Someone to talk with me now and then
It could have all worked out different when
Inspiration, you brought me salvation

There were cries of desperation

I had nothing left to lose
I was afraid, the isolation
But what else could I do?

When all I needed was a friend

Someone to talk with me now and then
It could have all worked out different when
Inspiration, you brought me salvation

When all I held was on the line

And my troubled soul grew weary
When I felt numb inside
And nothing more could hurt me
Thats when you came along
Right on time.

Lyrics and melody written by Lorraine Recasus

Source: The End Time Message blogpost

Steve Jobs on Death

2011-10-06T06:50:00.000-07:00

“Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept: No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.” [Steve Jobs' Commencement Speech at Stanford, 12 June 2005.]

----------------------------------------------------

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die …He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. [Ecclesiastes 3:1-2,11]

Since the children have flesh and blood, [Jesus] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. [Hebrews 2: 14-15]

Jesus said:

I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. [Revelation 1:18]

I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me… In him was life, and that life was the light of men. [John 14:6; 1:4]

I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies. [John 11:25]

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [John 3:16]

Word of Life

2011-08-29T19:49:00.000-07:00

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make oura joy complete.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. [1John1:1-10]

SIN

2011-08-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

Emergence of a set of problems often point to a deeper problem. There was, for example, a debt ceiling confrontation that went on for weeks between US political parties and the President. Each knew what needed to be done to resolve the problem but none were prepared to do the right thing. Instead each blamed and maligned the other side - and history - to get a sizable segment of the public behind them. Each side engaged in a deadly fight for what is right in their own eyes. It is all about self-interest [pride, greed, hate-mongering] couched in ever creative patriotic, legal, religious and refined phrases. We bet you know what that is called? S-I-N. SIN.

And just last week there were riots and looting in Britain where children as young as 10 were observed taking part. With economic downturn and the Cameron government slashing funding to social services, it is not surprising that poor neighborhoods are relatively hit hard and hence the locus of the incident. What is interesting is the manner in which politicians, the media and scholars of all stripes spewed phrases and words to describe the agitated communities. “Troubled youth”; “poverty”; “greed”; “anarchists”; “materialism”; “lawlessness”; “no sense of right and wrong”; “freeloaders”; “entitlement mentality”; and “migrant populations” [though the truth is that there were also white families]. Some harked back to the glory days of well-mannered British society. Others questioned and condemned the church, who they contended ought to have been the guardian and nurturer of what is right and what is wrong. Hardly anyone mentioned S-I-N. The reason is that the word is mistaken for condemning people and infringing on their rights. Today, sin is sanitized beyond recognition. And there lay the problem with implications for all of us individually and collectively.

It was only in mid-July that the global media baron Murdoch voice-hacking scandal broke out. I hope we still remember the news of Members of Parliament engaging in lies, petty theft and corruption? Or about bankers and Industry Bosses who felt entitled to obscene millions in benefits in total disregard of their social and moral responsibilities to society. We can go on and on and on. The police. Physicians. Research scientists. Athletes. Clergy. Atheists.

All to say, the problem is deep and not confined to a social class or epoch or culture and not yet ameliorated by technological advancements. If anything, it was as CS Lewis said, “The greatest evil is not done in those sordid dens of evil that Dickens loved to paint but is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clear, carpeted, warmed, well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices.”

We believe the most important aspect of addressing this problem is, firstly, to identify it for what it is and, secondly, to seek a remedy. And Jesus of Nazareth has offered the remedy: Himself. “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” [The Gospel of John 1:29]. We came across the passages quoted below in John Stott’s book, Basic Christianity [originally published in 1958, pp.76, 113-114] and wanted to share with you and at the same time honor Stott's life. God bless you. Here we go:

“The history of the last hundred years or so has convinced many people that the problem of evil is located in human beings themselves, not merely in human society. The nineteenth century saw a flourishing of liberal optimism. It was widely believed that human nature was fundamentally good, that evil was largely caused by ignorance and bad housing, and that education and social reform would enable people to live together in happiness and goodwill. But this illusion has been shattered by the hard facts of history. Educational opportunities have spread rapidly throughout the world, and many welfare states have been created. But our human capacity to get it wrong seems undaunted. The persistence of conflict on the world stage and the widespread denial of human rights, together with the general increase of violence and crime, have forced thoughtful people to acknowledge that a hard core of selfishness exists in each and every one of us.

“Much that we take for granted in a ‘civilized’ society is actually based upon the assumption of human sin. Nearly all legislation has grown up because we simply cannot be trusted to settle our disputes with justice and without self-interest. A promise is not enough; we need a contract. Doors are not enough; we have to lock and bolt them. The payment of fares is not enough; tickets have to be issued, inspected, and collected. Law and order are not enough; we need the police to enforce them. All this is due to our sin. We cannot trust each other. We need protection against one another. It is a terrible indication of what human nature is really like…

“As we begin to reflect on the cross, we can begin to understand the terrible implications of these words. At twelve noon ‘darkness came over the whole land’ that continued for three hours until Jesus died. With the darkness came silence, for no eye should see, and no lips could tell, the agony of soul that the spotless Lamb of God was now enduring. The accumulated sins from the whole of human history were laid upon him. Voluntarily he bore them in his own body. He made them his own. He took full responsibility for them.”

“And then in desolate spiritual abandonment a cry was wrung from his lips, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ It was a quotation from the first verse of Psalm 22… He quoted this verse from the Bible… because he believed that he himself was fulfilling it. He was bearing our sins. And God whose ‘eyes were too pure to look on evil’ and who ‘cannot tolerate wrong’ turned his face away. Our sins came between the Father and the Son. The Lord Jesus Christ, who was eternally with the Father, who enjoyed unbroken communion with him throughout his life on earth, was momentarily abandoned. Our sins sent Christ to hell. He tasted the agony of a soul alienated from God. Bearing our sins, he died our death. He endured instead of us the penalty of separation from God that our sins deserved”

“Then at once emerging from that outer darkness, he cried out in triumph, ‘It is finished,’ and finally, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ And so he died. The work he had come to do was completed. The salvation he had come to win was accomplished. The sins of the world had been carried away. Reconciliation to God was available to all who would trust this Savior for themselves and receive him as their own. Immediately, as if to demonstrate this truth publicly, the unseen hand of God tore down the curtain in the Temple. It was no longer needed. The way into God’s holy presence was no longer barred. Christ had ‘opened the gate of heaven to all believers.’ And thirty-six hours later he was raised from the dead, to prove that he had not died in vain.” ENDS.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [Gospel of John 3:16]

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. [Romans 3:23-25]

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. [2 Corinthians 5:21]

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest [Matthew 11:28].

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. [1 John 1: 5-8]

Men and Women of London

2011-08-09T20:29:00.000-07:00

GOD IS HOLY

Source: Revival Addresses by R.A. Torrey, 1856-1928

God is holy. How the Bible in every page brings that out! How it labors with all its types, sacrifices, ceremonies, explicit teaching, to impress upon men and women that God is holy. Take the supreme expression of it in I John i. 5, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” In the Scripture lesson tonight I read a passage from Isaiah in which he gives us a bit of his own biography. He was, perhaps, the best man of his time, but when he got one glimpse of God in His holiness, when he saw even the seraphim (the burning ones, glowing in their own holiness) covering their faces and their feet in the presence of the infinitely Holy Jehovah, he was overwhelmed, and cried, “Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.” Men and women of London, if there should burst upon this audience to-night a real vision of God in His holiness, this whole great gathering would fall on their faces and cry, “Woe is me, for I am undone.” Not one of you could keep your seats.

ADOPTED HANA FOUND DEAD

2011-08-02T08:55:00.000-07:00

Adopted girl's death prompts neglect investigation in Sedro Woolley
Source: nwcn.com

SEDRO WOOLLEY, Wash. – An investigation into possible neglect is under way after an adopted 13-year-old girl died at a home in Skagit County.

Hana Grace Williams, who was adopted from Ethiopia in 2008, was found dead on May 12 in the yard of her home. The Skagit County Medical Examiner’s Office said she died of hypothermia.

A source close to the investigation said Hana was 30 pounds lighter than when she arrived from Ethiopia.

The Washington state Department of Social and Health Services says all eight of her siblings have been removed from the home. The prosecutor’s office said it is still waiting for more information before making a decision on charges.

Hana’s parents could not be reached for comment Sunday. The END.

Requiem

Not under foreign skies
Nor under foreign wings protected -
I shared all this with my own people
There, where misfortune had abandoned us.
- Anna Akhamatova [1961]

BEING THE PEOPLE OF GOD

2011-07-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

Interview with Dr. Girma Bekele - Final [Part 1 & 2]

You raise liberation theology. Perhaps you had in mind the argument for God’s “preferential treatment for the poor.” The same God who dealt compassionately with Hagar, however, was also compassionate to Abram. Should we not be wary of overemphasizing God’s charity to those on the margins and not also to those at the center blighted by sin no less? Not just structural sin and liberation but also personal sin and conversion? Don’t you see how theologians often are found romanticizing the poor.

God’s mission is intrinsic to his being as a compassionate God and the God of the god-forsaken. The Bible declares: “For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Deut. 10:17-19).

The quest for global social justice is the fundamental question of the majority of the world’s population – the poor. Their story is a repetitive story of injustice, pain, neglect, dictatorship and poverty. In the current global inequality that has divided the world into two extremes of socio-economic and political power (what Gustavo Gutierrez calls “neodualism”) in which the poor have become poorer and the rich richer, the majority of Ethiopians cannot be called global citizens. They do not count in the economic and political equation of a globalising world. While the world is certainly getting “smaller”, the expectations of millions of Ethiopians for life’s basic needs (such as access to clean water, electricity, health care and education) are yet to be realized.

Any theology that does not address this issue is, at best, abstract, and at its worst, irrelevant! However, having said that, the preaching of the good news to the poor (Lk. 4:16-30) has to be understood in its proper perspective. First, we see the centrality of the poor in Jesus’ ministry. Second, it emphasizes the displacement of vengeance with the peace-making mission of the Messiah, for God’s grace now is universal and is extended to the ‘enemies’ – the gentile nations - whom Jews had hoped that messiah would conquer on their behalf. Finally, it presents the mission to the Gentiles, as “God was not only the God of Israel but also, and equally, the God of the Gentiles.” Jesus presents himself as the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies (in this particular case, Isaiah 61:1), which he now redefines and appropriates. With the coming of the Messiah, the day of the Lord has arrived and the gospel is also for the poor – those who have been economically and socially marginalized. An allegorical interpretation of the “poor” that Luke talks about is erroneous, since Luke describes Jesus’ real concern for socio-economic justice. It is rather, an affirmation that a society that is structured in such a way that some suffer because of poverty while others have more than they need and can use is part of the Kingdom of Satan.

Jesus’ announcements therefore have socio-political and economic implications. One has to be careful, however, in equating his sayings with the agenda of any political movement. Jesus and his followers were never revolutionists. The disciples preached that through his death and resurrection, Christ has defeated Satan and his work that is behind both spiritual and structural evils. The meaning of salvation is deep and comprehensive, and it includes the total transformation of human life, forgiveness of sin, healing from infirmities, and release from any kind of bondage. It is simultaneously both liberation from and liberation to.

As Bosch puts it, Jesus “championed ‘God’s preferential option for the poor.’ He announced the Jubilee, which would inaugurate a reversal of the dismal fate of the dispossessed, the oppressed, and the sick, by calling on the wealthy and healthy to share with those who are victims of exploitation and tragic circumstances.

The gospel is also for the rich who feel secure, self-reliant, self-sufficient, self-satisfied. They are challenged to see that their “possessions” present an ever-present obstacle to their spiritual deliverance (Luke 18:24), and informed that the kingdom of God contains no room for the self-sufficient who think that worldly wealth will shield them from judgment (Lk. 6:20-26; 12: 13-21; 16:19-31) or for the self-righteous who see no need for repentance (Lk. 18:9-14). On the contrary, the kingdom of God is reserved for the poor, for those who know their poverty and therefore trust in God, and for the repentant who recognize their sin (both the poor and the rich) and cast themselves upon the mercy of God. The implication is that just as the materially rich can be spiritually poor, the materially poor can be spiritually poor. In their being converted, rich and poor are converted toward each other.

As such, romanticizing poverty does not do justice to the biblical view of humanity. The declaration that God is on the side of the poor does not necessarily mean that the reverse is also true. Even from a liberation theology point of view the ultimate basis for the privileged position of the poor is not in the poor themselves, but in God. Ultimately, no amount of social transformation and elimination of the forms of oppression will alter the condition of human sinfulness. Human redemption is fully done by Christ on the Cross. As such, ultimate transformation is thus purely eschatological. This, however, does not give us a room for escapism; rather, a hope and a reason to stand in solidarity with the poor.

Why Bosch and not Qes Gudina Tumsa to frame your inquiry? Qes Gudina, who we have contended is a Christian martyr, was also keen on ecumenism, on empowering society [through literacy and development] and defining the role of the church as a prophetic witness community not subservient to any earthly power other than to Jesus Christ who is Lord of lords and King of kings.

Your description of Rev. Gudina Tumsa is accurate, and indeed he was a great man of God. His theology and contributions deserves a study. However, the scope of my book deals with both global and local missiological challenges in a dialogical way. I have used the works of David Bosch (1929-1992), especially his “Transforming Mission”, which is eagerly studied in all continents. He was a South African Christian scholar and civil activist who opposed apartheid and significantly contributed to its downfall in a non-violent way. Bosch taught, wrote and laboured to help the churches of his day understand and serve God’s mission in a world hungry for justice, mutual respect, and peaceful community. He considered his role a prophetic one which, unlike critics who criticize from outside and always search for someone to blame, confesses from within and weeps and lives in solidarity with the oppressed, no matter how costly. For him, the quest for justice in the socio-political and economic arena is thus an integral, progressive and never ending aspect of mission. He was disowned by his denomination, had to endure the political hate of his fellow Afrikaners and the discomfort of being misunderstood as a proponent of an ‘ineffective and easy way’ solution to the problems of injustice by fellow church leaders.

Bosch lived and prayed through his conviction for mission which acts in non-violent ways, attesting the reign of God which includes the renewal of creation, and transcendently engaging human life in every form. He lived and died in his native land of South Africa, forsaking the comfort, freedom and prestige of places like Princeton, where he was offered the chair in Ecumenics and Mission. His contribution to the classic debate about the relationship between state and church is significant. He has opened many points of contact between the Evangelicals (represented by the Lausanne Covenant) and the Ecumenical churches (represented by the World Council of Churches). While I have my own points of convergence with and of departure from his thinking, I have found that his method of thought, and his struggles and suggestions on a number of issues, are helpful and illuminating. Bosch seems to be the right dialogue partner, for his methods are dialogical, too. He has a good grasp of global mission crises, and has creatively provided us with a survey of mission history using the theory of paradigm shift. I have also appropriated (very carefully) the same theory in analyzing Ethiopia’s 1600 year Christian history. To help the reader understand Bosch and his world, In-Between People includes a section on his theological and socio-political context in South Africa.

“Contextualization” is a much abused word. It is often an excuse for erecting a straw-man to demolish to prove a desired point. At the same time, we cannot but recognize the context of both source and target of Christian teachings. What do you say to that?

There is no such thing as one, universal pure theology by which the validity or invalidity of all other theologies will be judged. In fact, all theologies are local and contextual. As Bosch would argue any given theology in the between time is never without ambiguity, and it must do its work without any guarantees of the correctness of its premises. We know in part, as Paul famously told his Corinthian congregation; and as such no one single theological perspective can claim universality. It is, therefore, the responsibility of each region can develop its own theology that is appropriate to its own social, economic and cultural peculiarities. This is what I call a universal hermeneutical move – doing theology universally, relevant locally and rooted in the Bible and tradition (discerningly and creatively).

There are two extreme interpretive frameworks that absolutize a given contexualization. One temptation is to read into the Bible a predetermined ideological position and construct a type of blueprint for the church to use as a theology of justice. In this interpretive framework, God becomes whatever that ideology wants God to be – a liberator, for example, even in the revolutionary political sense. On the other extreme is the temptation to read one’s history into the Bible, such as Afrikaner history (or the history of white dominance in the global community) and identifying that with Israel’s as if that group had been called, in a theocratic sense, to act as a nation or empire with a specific divinely ordained mandate. In these interpretive frameworks, the history of each nation and people is understood as predetermined and fixed - God becomes the God of “the nationalist” or “the rightist” or “leftist”, depending on the predisposition of the theologian or civil religious group concerned.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to liberate everyone essentially and primarily from sin. His reign, by virtue of its encompassing full range of human existence – social, political and economic—stands against all forms of inter-human oppression. Although God is at work in human history, this does not necessarily mean that he favourably dictates the history of specific nations or groups of people. As Lord of history, he directs it in its entirety towards the horizon of ultimate meaning – the eschaton.

I want to suggest too that there exists a hermeneutical blind spot in any given contextual theology. All local theologies should be given a valid space in the global theological dialogue, and this should be done in a spirit of mutual cooperation. In this way, as Bosch puts it, “we may tentatively advance towards a truly ‘catholic’ theology… it is only ‘together with all God’s people’ that we shall discover how broad and long, how high and deep Christ’s love is.” The challenge for each theology is to be honest to the Bible (and not read into it!) and to be able to hold together in creative tension theoria (reason), praxis (hand in action) and poiesis (a heart that is transformed from within)!

Could you offer a passage from your book that you want all those engaged in missions in Ethiopia to mull over?

“Both the Orthodox and evangelical traditions need to offer themselves up as the Alternative Community, since this kind of transcendent identity is sorely needed in a country whose political structure was crafted out of fear and mistrust inherited from past history. Ethiopian Christians need to make a choice to re-direct the country’s mixed legacy of bitterness, fear of domination, mistrust, and excessive ethnic self-consciousness by continually re-committing themselves to a missional life that transcends all human barriers. Such a commitment must be lived in radical recognition of this community as unique and distinct from any other community, living from the truth of its calling as the body of Christ. Such an understanding of the church as God’s in-between people illuminates the past and helps to shape the present, by making a choice to move, from being a prisoner of history to being a “prisoner of hope.” Being a member of this community means seeing one’s fellow human being not through the prisms of history, but from the viewpoint of Christ Jesus who has made all things new through his death and resurrection. The church as Alternative Community means that her members choose to see each other through the lens of the kingdom of God with its radical values, and not through the keyhole of one’s own ethnic enclosure.” In-Between People, p.415.

Let us go back one more time to your initial goal of initiating a dialogue. How would you go about doing that and who would that include or not include?

Yes! First, a good starting place for dialogue is within the academic community. I am suggesting establishing a federation of denominational theological schools. The idea is not to create a huge structure, but to focus on core values and address common issues in a united way, but with independent academic autonomy and aspiration. It is possible, and it takes humility, and ability to see mission in Ethiopia beyond the prisms of denominationalism. A collaborative hand can even be extended to the EOTCs theological school. While I do understand that western theology has immensely contributed to the development of theology, one –to –one corresponding academic curriculum is futile.

Second, I also suggest creation of a graduate center for the Study of Christian Social Thought – a research-focused program that addresses contemporary missiological issues in the country: poverty, leadership, public policy analysis (health, education, development, gender, globalization, etc.)

Third, Evangelicals both in Ethiopia and in Diaspora need to find some ways to work together in a unified way. There is a need to strengthen the Evangelical Churches Fellowship of Ethiopia. In Diaspora (especially in North America) the struggle for monopoly by various ‘ministries’, fellowships, congresses, etc., really need to find ways to have a unified voice and work together. We can only imagine the potential. Individualism should not take over communalism.

Fourth, the EOTC and Evangelicals should be willing to journey towards a meaningful dialogue, healing and mutual reformation. EOTC has survived several internal and external crises, and, equally has served as the repository of cultural and religious heritage, while serving as a force of national unity during various historical periods in which the country was facing disintegration. There are many wars (theological, socio-political, local and global) that have shaped and limited its missiological self-understanding. While recognizing that the EOTC had shortcomings in resisting reform from within and without, and that its rigid structures tend to repel any form of contemporary contextualization, it would be unjust to apply a 21st century missional understanding onto its past and to judge it accordingly. A fair and constructive reading pleads for an understanding of the historical parameters within which it has existed, operated and struggled for a meaningful missiological self-expression. As such, to erase its legacy as a complete void not only devalues centuries of spiritual sincerity, but also denies the presence of the Spirit of God working both inside and outside the walls of the supposedly ‘perfect’ church with its ‘perfect’ theological and missiological outlook!

Equally, the EOTC must recognize that Ethiopian Evangelicalism was born out of the ambivalence with regard to the “type” of Christianity that had existed in Ethiopia. It was an avoidable and inevitable clash of mission paradigms. Despite the challenges it faces and its missiological shortcomings, present day Ethiopian Evangelicalism has reached a stage where its role as an authentic national force for social and religious transformation cannot be dismissed. The stereotypical labelling of Evangelicals and their religious self-expression as ‘foreign’, even to this date, has lost its historical validity. The EOTC, for her part, needs to redefine her mission and identity within the comprehensive sense of mission and see herself beyond the horizons of nationalism. Her “counter-reformation” should not be motivated by concern over losing her base or anxiety about how to recover her former power. Rather, it must come from within, from a genuine and passionate urge to live true to her own original and biblical wisdom and to radiate the love and life of God, for love of whom she has endured so much suffering throughout its history. It is a deliberate recognition that the church is the only community on earth which already belongs to the new age; it is based on a completely new value system. Her members are asked to renounce the false values of tradition, culture, and any other identity and to live as an alternative to all existing communities because it is based on a new definition of solidarity with the mission of God. This means a turning away from institutionalized self-preservation towards an incarnational and contextually relevant mission that builds a community of God and takes the Bible and its demands seriously.

Do you have plans to have your book translated into the official Amharic? As you well know, it is not accessible or affordable to many in its current form.

I am considering that, time and funds permitting. For now people can buy it online at a discount from WIPF and Stocks. Alternatively, I can bring some copies at author’s discount (50% plus shipping and handling) and speak at their churches. I have been travelling within Canada and it has been a blessing to speak on the direction of mission and revival in Ethiopia.

Thank you. It was a pleasure talking with you.

Dr. Girma could be reached at these addresses: Ethiopian Evangelical Church office in Toronto: 416-461-7024; direct 647-835-9857 or E-mail: girma.bekele@utoronto.ca

WE MUST ALL MEET GOD

2011-07-24T20:46:00.000-07:00

by RA Torrey, 1856-1928 [Revival Addresses]

You and I some day must meet this holy God. The prophet Amos cries, “Prepare to meet thy God!’ (Amos 4, 12). Every man and woman here must some day meet God. The rich man must meet God! The beggar must meet God! The scholar must meet God! The illiterate man must meet God! The nobleman must meet God! The king must meet God! The emperor must meet God! Every one must meet God! The supreme question of life, then, is this: Are you ready to meet God? None of us can tell how soon it may be that we shall meet God. The king of Spain, as the bulletins flashed across the wires to-night, has been very near meeting his God to-day. Some of us may meet Him within the next twenty-four hours; more within the year; many more within five years; and within forty years almost every man and woman in this audience will have met God. Are you ready? If not, I implore you to get ready before leaving this hall tonight.

How can we meet God with joy and not with dismay? There is only one ground upon which man may meet God with joy and not with despair. That ground is the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. God is infinitely holy, and the best of us is but a sinner. The only ground upon which a sinner can meet the holy God is on the ground of the shed blood, the blood of Christ. Any of us, no matter how outcast or vile, can go boldly to the Holy of Holies on the ground of the shed blood, and the best man or woman that ever walked this earth can meet God on no other ground than the shed blood. There is only one adequate preparation for the sinner to meet God, that is the acceptance of Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour, who bore all our sins on the Cross of Calvary, and as our risen Saviour who is able to set us free from the power of sin.

Men and women, are you ready to meet God? If it be the will of God, I am ready to go up into His presence, and meet Him face to face to-night. Do you say, Have you never sinned? Alas, I have. Sinned so deeply as none of you will ever know, thank God. But, thank God still more, when Jesus Christ was nailed to yonder Cross of Calvary, all my sins were settled. I like a sheep had gone astray. I had turned to my own way, but God laid on Him my sin (Isaiah 53. 6), and the sacrifice God provided I have accepted. I am ready to meet God face to face to-night and look into those eyes of infinite holiness, for all my sins are covered by the atoning blood.

Are you ready to meet God? ... You and I must meet Him. There is only one adequate preparation—the acceptance of Christ as our Sin-bearer, our Saviour, Deliverer from the power of sin. Will you accept Christ tonight?

A Christian Vision of Beauty

2011-07-21T15:54:00.000-07:00

"A Christian understanding of beauty runs directly into the wisdom of the age by suggesting that the beautiful is simultaneously the good and the true and the real. This goes all the way back to the conversation of the ancients—especially to Plato, who understood the good, the beautiful, the true, and the real as being essentially reducible to the same thing. If there is one good, then that good must also be the true, which must also be the real, which must also be the beautiful. So the good, the beautiful, the true, and the real— the four great historical transcendentals—are unified in the One. For Plato, however, the One has no name...

Augustine, the great theologian of the Patristic Era, identified the One as the one true and living God. Taking Plato’s metaphysical speculations into the very heart of the gospel, Augustine suggested that Christians uniquely understand that the good, the beautiful, the true, and the real are indeed one, because they are established in the reality of the self-revealing God—the triune God of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He alone is beautiful, He alone is good, He alone is true, and He alone is real. That is not to suggest that nothing else reflects beauty or goodness. It is simply to say that He alone, by virtue of the fact that He is infinite in all His perfections, is the source and the judge and the end of all that is good, beautiful, true, and real. For as Paul said, 'From Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen' (Romans 11:36)...

If you search through the Old Testament, you will notice that the word beauty is really not there. Instead, you will find the word glory. Throughout the Bible, the beauty of God is most commonly described as His glory. Once we understand the biblical category of glory—that is, the reality of God in terms of His inner reality and the external manifestations of Himself—we realize that God’s glory encompasses all the transcendentals. To gaze upon God is not first of all to see His beauty, but rather His glory."

[Quoted from “The Disappearance of GOD” by Dr. Albert Mohler (Multnomah Books, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 2009), pp.50-51, 54-55 and sent to us by brother Amare Tabor.]

They Have Together Become Corrupt

2011-07-19T07:26:00.000-07:00

The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good. God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. Will the evildoers never learn-- those who devour my people as men eat bread and who do not call on God? Psalm 53:1-4

"Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. Is 45:22

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. Isaiah 30:15

BEING THE PEOPLE OF GOD

2011-07-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

Interview with Dr. Girma Bekele - Part 2 [Part 1]

Before proceeding with the next portion of the interview, do you mind clarifying your response on the oft-repeated “religious freedom” in our country in light of state-church relations stated in Paul’s letter to the Romans, Chapter 13?

It is unlikely that the Ethiopian church will find herself again facing state enforced persecution. Certainly, not to the degree comparable to those dark years of the communist regime. And it is my prayer that this freedom will last and be used effectively. Regardless, the church should be true to herself and her mission “in season and out of season” [2 Tim. 4:2]. Her freedom would be meaningless, and in fact, unbecoming, when she behaves contrary to her identity as the unique community of God.

The church should not seek to please powers nor should she blindly endorse socio-economic and political programs without due scrutiny just for the sake of ‘freedom’. A shallow understanding of “power” or “authority” in Rom 13:1 makes one to submit blindly to individuals, groups, or political parties. I am not a New Testament scholar, but my own finding has led me to a conviction that Paul is referring to an “office”. Ultimately, all power comes from God! As such, it is clear that action or inaction and morality and ethics of any given government can be called into question and even challenged in the light of the Word of God. As far as state-church relationship is concerned, Romans 13:1 should be understood in its comprehensive context that: (1) All authorities are ultimately accountable to God; (2) God is in charge, he is on his throne from where he directs human history; (3) Governments are given power to serve people; (4) What a government does, at least in terms of basic human rights and values, should be compatible with basic Christian conscience. Bosch makes it clear that the conscience which submits to the state when it works for the good of the people, under God, is the same conscience which opposes the state when it works contrary to the good of the people and not under God.

Don’t you think your optimism may be misplaced about state-enforced persecution not getting harsher than during the previous regime - especially considering Jesus's warning of events preceding his return [John 15:20; 2 Timothy 3:1]? If, as you stated above, God is the Ultimate Governor, is there any reason to believe earthly rulers are the real purveyors of “freedom” or that they could persecute without the Governor permitting it? Jesus has given the church authority to “loose and bind” on earth which, likewise, will be loosed and bound in heaven [Matthew 16: 19]. Scripture also instructs believers to pray for those in authority so that there will be peace, godliness, holiness and that people will be saved through the preaching of the Gospel [1 Tim 2: 1-4]. In other words, are not the “freedoms” we enjoy really the result of prayers and not necessarily because of government largesse?

I am optimistic at least in the immediate sense of it. Regardless, the church’s true freedom is fundamentally being herself as the body of Christ—the manifestation of God’s kingdom on earth that embodies and radiates all its values both in word and in deed. The church is commissioned by none other than the risen Lord who said: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me... Therefore go…” (Matthew 28: 18). Her empowerment comes from the Lord. As such, the church cannot count on governments’ favour or approval for her existence and her mission. The church’s missionary agenda is set and defined by the word of God, and she is to be guided by the power of the Holy Spirit. Yes, the church ought to pray for governments that they may discharge their duties peacefully, justly, wisely, morally and ethically. The church ought to pray against all powers, systems, beliefs and values that oppose and hinder the spreading of the gospel. God does answer prayers in his own way and rescue his people. In a system of governance where freedom of religion and speech is upheld, it is natural to expect that the mission of the church flourishes. As history attests, however, this has not always been necessarily the case and if fact quite the contrary. Certainly, that is true of the contemporary Ethiopian Evangelicalism.

When the church is true to her calling, persecution (it may have various faces and degrees from time to time) is inevitable. You may know that Christians in Jimma (over ten thousand) are now in the middle of fierce persecution from Islamic radicals. This is a serious concern, but the gospel cannot be confined for it is the work of the Holy Spirit through dedicated children of God.

May I also remind readers to pray (and help through the Ethiopian Evangelicals Churches Fellowship -EECF- office in Addis Ababa or through Kale Heywot Church which has been assigned by the Fellowship to look after the believers in Jimma) for churches in Jimma.

Your last question concerns whether the “freedoms” we are enjoying today is the result of prayers. Yes, that is true in a sense that ultimately God is in charge of human history, just as much as of Salvation history. He holds all power, and he gives and takes it away. My only concern is the temptation to read any given (or one’s) nation’s history or socio-political program into the Bible, even “theocratically”. Often people are too quick to ascribe “the hand of God” to a given government only to find it to be a delusion later. Discerning the hand of God in history is a matter of faith and often can be very ambiguous. What is certain is that God is on his throne directing human history to its meaningful end, and as such ultimately no earthly power is outside of God’s rule!

How would you define heaven? Do you believe there is hell? How would belief or non-belief in those two realities impact the missionary enterprise?
I believe heaven is located within God’s universe—creation. I believe it is already here, inaugurated in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Heaven is where all true believers will eternally enjoy fellowship with the Triune God. It has already invaded the present, but yet it is to be fully realized in the second coming of the Lord. It is the home of righteousness" (2 Pet. 3:13); and in the interim it is behind us, among us, around us and within us! (John 14:2; Rom. 8:21; Rev. 21:22-27).

I do also believe in the existence of hell; but the motivation for mission is the love of God and not the fear of hell, for hell is primarily and essentially the final destination of Satan his followers! God loved the whole cosmos and he sent his Son Jesus as the unique and the only way to heaven. The parousia, the second coming of the Lord Jesus, is real and without which history has no meaning. The eschatological dimension of the church reminds us that the quest for justice is a progressive journey, and that it will be fully realized only at the parousia. The church as the Alternative Community lives dialectically – in the here/already and the not yet. The church exists between the ascension and parousia and therefore lives in mission expectantly. Being expectant should not make the church escapist, for the Kingdom of Heaven is not only a future reality but is already present in our midst. That is real hope!

So what is at stake for the church’s mission in Ethiopia?

First, mission that embraces a God-given ethnic innocence. We need to be alert to the damage being caused to the unity and distinctiveness of the church as the unique body of Christ by excessive ethnic self-consciousness. While the EOTC has to find some ways to prevent the current conflict between the Ethiopian Synod and the Exiled Synod from being exploited along ethnic and political lines, the Evangelical body has to keep itself from regressing to nominalism and entanglement with ethnic exclusivism. They need to rise above walls of ethnicity that we see in the current compromise between centralism and regional particularism. The church is called to be a healer.

Second, Christ-centered Leadership. It is suicidal that the church is seeking the help of secular law to resolve her internal conflicts. Leadership conflicts within the EOTC and (with varying degrees) Evangelical churches are mixed with excessive ethnic self-consciousness. One’s theological or socio-political views, as well as one’s actions or inactions are seen through the prism of ethnicity, regardless of one’s intention. Within the evangelical body (both in Ethiopia and in diaspora), churches split easily and there is a professionalization (or even a personalization) of ministry (often characterized by feelings of insecurity), failing to recognize that “ministry is not a personal achievement.” Personal ambitions, lack of the fear of God, and the decline of Christian integrity are all unwitting refusals of the Lordship of Jesus Christ, who through the Holy Spirit is the owner of Christian mission, including the church herself. All these make the church just another “broken social structure” — a failed status-quo.

Finally, the fate of the millions of poor and the destiny of the next generation. My work has been an eye opening experience, and at the moment, what is at stake is the destiny of our nation and indeed of its majority poor. One can only imagine the possibilities if the Christian majority in our county were united around a common goal and finds some respectable and intelligible ways to dialogue to expand common ground for mutual enrichment, reformation and betterment of the life of the poor. I believe we can make a huge difference. Having said this, however, I am very conscious that the church is not an NGO; rather she is the visible sign of God’s kingdom on earth. Although global justice must be a great concern for contemporary Christian mission, it is wrong to equate evangelization with political action or salvation with social justice.

What, in your opinion, accounts for the churches not speaking out against distributive injustices, corruption, and human rights [to limit their activities simply to evangelization and to emergency and charitable endeavors]?

Specific to Evangelicals, their involvement in constructively contributing to the shaping of the country’s socio-political and economic direction was very limited during the last two regimes—the Monarchy and Military Marxism. Historically, during the initial stages of the Marxist military regime, evangelical churches, particularly in the South, had endorsed the government’s policy for they, like many other social groups on the periphery, were excluded from power in the centre, and the Marxist claims of ‘equality, justice and freedom for all’ was very appealing. Of course, the Derge sent a deliberate and misleading picture of itself as the upholder of religious freedom, and the evangelicals took that at its face value. It was quick and shrewd in exploiting the religious sentiment of the southern evangelicals, who felt that they had been treated as second class citizens during the Monarchy. In addition, when the revolution erupted, most evangelical churches (with some exceptions, such as the Evangelical Ethiopian Church Mekane Yesus) had just begun organizing themselves as indigenous churches at a national level. They lacked a theological framework to critically assess and determine the boundaries between the claims of Christianity and the emerging Ethiopianized Marxist-Leninist ideology. Some exceptional voices existed within the evangelical churches, however. The most notable of these was Qes Gudina Tumsa, General Secretary of EE CMY (1966-1979) and an evangelical martyr who was executed for his critical, non-violent political stance.

In my opinion, the evangelicals need to address their own in-house problems as a crucial step without which they have no credible voice in the socio-political and economic arena. Both evangelism and social concern (the shaping of public policy as relates to poverty, distributive injustices, corruption, and human rights) are at stake. It is ironic that the very churches that were persecuted under the Monarchy and the Derge, and historically who had been pleading with authorities that their right to exist was threatened simply because they worshipped God, are now suing each other and asking the government to build walls between them! Inevitably, the mark that distinguishes the church from the world is increasingly being blurred. While historically, Evangelicals irritated (or attracted) the world around them, now more than ever they are facing the question of integrity and credibility—increasingly making Christian mission redundant. No single denomination remains unaffected, including the Mulu Wongel, which has significantly contributed to the transformation of Ethiopian Evangelicalism into Pentecostalism, including being a positive force for the movement of Evangelical ecumenism.

What will it take to mobilize expatriate evangelical missionaries to move on from making only [denominational] converts [in their own images] and engaging in individualized acts of charity to playing supportive role to native leadership to policy advocacy in their own countries where a particular foreign policy is often cause for abuses to human freedoms?

We live in an age of consumerism, and unfortunately contemporary mission praxis is influenced by it. A certain ‘denominational’ aspiration becomes the ‘gospel’ and method for the success of institutional expansion (or preservation in the case of mainline churches) is taking precedence over faithfulness! In such a missionary model, substance is replaced with style and it is easy to compromise, for it is ‘people-’ or to be clear ‘consumer-’ driven. In such a missionary paradigm, mission becomes whatever a church or a mission/ministry organization does. By January 1999, in Ethiopia, there were over 200 registered ‘mission/ministry or charitable Christian organizations’, a ratio of almost 20 for every established denomination! Some have done (still do) good jobs in partnership with local churches or the national office. It is also encouraging that some church/ministry leaders in Diaspora are returning (long term or short term) to work with churches in Ethiopia. Nonetheless, their contribution is a mixture of blessing and pain. The pain is as a result of (probably unwitting) missiological paternalism owing to their financial influence. This leads them to want to dictate the content and direction of mission in Ethiopia with little regard for the autonomy (or vision) of both local churches and the national office of the Evangelicals. Supporting ministries can really be effective if they are guided by a matured leadership, sound missiology, vision and a working cooperation with local churches and/or the EECF in the areas of healthy church planting, theological training and involvement in social concerns.

Mission originates with God, and it refers to the total task of the church — sent in her very being into the world, where in this movement evangelism is the heart of that task. Theology has no authentic existence of its own apart from mission, and it occurs as a natural outcome when the church faithfully lives out its missionary mandate. The current parallelism that we see between a narrowly defined mission and evangelism on one side and theology on the other side can be addressed effectively if the church understood herself and her existence essentially and exclusively in terms mission! If she is the sign of God’s Kingdom on earth, then denomination is relativized as an accent. The Kingdom has no boundary, and we are not enlisting people for an ‘organization’ but for the Kingdom of God!

Having said that, in a country such as Ethiopia, mission should address the plight of the poor. In spite of its many centuries of triumphal history as one of the oldest independent nations, Ethiopia is still one of the poorest countries in the world. The combined effects of famine, war, successive failed state-enforced socio-political and economic policies and one-sided neoliberal globalization have exacerbated the socio-economic disparities Ethiopia has inherited—further deepening the level of poverty. The historic rivalry between the (EOTC and the EEC, which together constitute about 63% of the population) and the encroachment of nominalism are causing self-inflected wounds on Christian mission in the country.

A lasting answer to the plight of the poor and their welfare is inextricably linked to the much needed missiolgical reformation and cooperation between the EOTC and the EEC. The temptation for them is to yield to the institutional instinct toward self-self-preservation; thriving and transforming mission can only be possible by being the community of God in the true sense of the New Testament.

Regarding the synthesis between theology, mission and evangelism, we need to learn from the mistakes of mainline churches in the west that have made theology a very abstract intellectual enterprise. May I suggest that theology has to be local (with global hermeneutical considerations), contextual and missional; but rooted in the invariable truth of the Scriptures. In terms of social concern, we need to move from an emergency response to a sound public policy analysis, sustainable development, capacity building, and advocacy—becoming a prophet who commends when government behaves well according to the values of the Kingdom of God, and denounces when it does the contrary. The LORD says:
“Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place.” [Jer. 22:3]

Your interlocutor, David Bosch, launched his initial addresses from a South African frame of reference. How would you account for the fact that South Africa is very different from religious, spatial, and cultural realities in Ethiopia? Christian, Islamic, and Judaic influences are part and parcel of the Ethiopian psyche, whereas, in South Africa, whatever Christian influences there are were in large part tied to the West, colonialism, and apartheid. Second, of immediate concern to South African churches [led by such leaders as Desmond Tutu] was racism and absence of social justice and therefore the church struggled against those inhuman policies and practices. In Ethiopia, on the other hand, one hardly found a period with identical sets of challenges. In the past fifty years the church and her leaders hardly failed to collaborate with current rulers [excepting, probably, during the “Marxist interlude”, 1974-1991, when Evangelicals disobeyed state-imposed restrictions on worship].

It is absolutely true that the contexts of these two countries are different. I have also made it very clear in my book that although there is an observable pattern of similarities and differences between the making of Afrikaner nationalism and of Ethiopian nationalism, both have different historical contexts with different outcomes. In both cases, the state-churches, the DRC (Dutch Reformed Church) and the EOTC, have played a significant role, though in entirely different historical, socio-political and economic contexts. At the outset, however, an important contrast must be emphasized: while state enforced and theologically justified racism and exclusionism were the defining essence of the ideology of the apartheid regime, Ethiopian monarchism, on the other hand, was classist, but relatively inclusionist. Apartheid was a centrifugal force that pushed away all other ethnic groups or made them rotate around the orbit of Afrikaner nationalism, while Ethiopian nationalism began as a centripetal force that attempted to create a single conforming national identity by assimilating other cultures and ethnic identifies into one religio-cultural identity. In this social transformation, the EOTC was the religious conscious for the monarchical movement from the center into the peripheries. Nonetheless, it is to the credit of the EOTC that Ethiopian Christianity was preserved without the tinting of European colonizers (a theological syndrome that other African nations and Latin America and some parts of Asia still suffers from). The births of various liberation theologies were partly a result of resisting a western theological hegemony. The EOTC’s theology in that sense is very nationalistic and independent! However, both Ethiopia and South Africa give good examples in analyzing state-church relations in their contexts.

May I also add that Ethiopian Evangelicalism/Protestantism too is different from its African counterpart in its psyche. Missionaries in Ethiopia began their work with a very different missiology than was practiced in most of Africa. While their legacy has its own blind spots, it must be recognized that it has made a valuable contribution in providing a more healthy foundation than churches in some other countries experienced.

Yes, you are right that we are yet to have people like Gudina Tumsa – and I think what is lacking is vision. It is a matter of prayer as well that God would raise prophets, or that those who are called to be act like one!

The final portion here.

GOD IS

2011-07-03T18:41:00.000-07:00

Revival Addresses by R.A. Torrey [d. 1928]

The first thing the Bible teaches us about God is that God is. “God is”—two short words. Tremendous significance! “God is.” If that simple truth gets hold of your mind and heart it will move and mold your entire life. It will determine your science, it will determine your philosophy, it will determine your daily life, it will determine your eternity. “God is.” The psalmist tells us in Psalm 14.—“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” Please note where he says it—“in his heart.” That is, he says there is no God simply because he does not wish to believe that there is a God. Now, there is a God, and a man that denies a fact simply because he does not wish to believe it is a fool.

There is abundant proof of the existence of God, so abundant that no man can sit down and consider the proof thoroughly and candidly without acknowledging the existence of God. Nature proves the existence of God. All through Nature there are marks of creative intelligence. Everywhere in Nature you find order, symmetry, law. You can study Nature in the minute, or you can study Nature in the vast, it makes no difference; everywhere you find the marks of intelligence and creative design. You may take your microscope and turn it down upon the minutest forms of life; everywhere there is adaptation to end, to purpose, to design. The man of science will tell you that in the minutest structure discernible by the most powerful microscope he finds perfect beauty, and most perfect adaptation of means to end. Or take your telescope and turn it towards the vaster Nature. Everywhere you see order, symmetry, law, intelligence, design, all proving an intelligent Creator of the material universe in which we live. Suppose I show you my watch, and ask, “Do you believe it had a maker?” you would say, “Certainly.” “But why? Did you see it made?” “No.” “Did you ever see a watch made?” “No!” “Why, then, do you believe it had a maker?” “Because everything about it indicates an intelligent maker—hands, figures upon the face, case, winding apparatus, everything about the watch proclaims that it had an intelligent maker. Suppose I replied, “You are mistaken; the watch had no intelligent maker; the watch came to be by accident; by a fortuitous concurrence of atoms dancing around through endless ages, until at last, in the age in which you find it, they danced into the present form; thus the watch came to be.” Your remark would be, “That man may think he is highly educated, but he talks like a fool;” and you would be right. Yet there are no such marks of intelligent design in that watch as in this material universe. One very small part of Nature, your own eye, is a far more wonderful structure than any watch. But if some man should stand up and say that this wonderful universe in which we live came into being by a fortuitous concurrence of atoms which danced around through the endless ages until they danced into their present form any would call him a philosopher. In the ordinary affairs of life he would be called a foolosopher.

But, Some one may say, “The doctrine of evolution does away with the whole force of the argument from design.” Not at all. I formerly believed that the doctrine of evolution was true, but gave up the belief, not from theological but from scientific reasons, because it was absolutely unproven; there is not a single proof of the hypothesis of evolution. People talk about the missing link; they are all missing; there is not a single link. There is not a single place where one species passes over into another species. There is not one single observed instance of the evolution of a higher species from a lower. Development of varieties there has been, but of evolution of a higher species from a lower not one single case. The hypothesis of the evolution of species, and especially of the highest forms of life from the lowest, is a guess pure and simple, without one scientifically observed fact to build upon. But suppose the doctrine of evolution were true, it would not for a moment militate against the argument from design. If there were originally some unorganized protoplasm that developed into all the forms of life and beauty as we see them today, it would be a still more remarkable illustration, in one way, of the wisdom and power of the Creator, for the question would arise, Who put into the primordial protoplasm the power of developing into the universe as we see it today? It would take a more wonderful man to make a watch-hand which would develop into a watch than it would to make a watch outright. And, in one way, it would be a more marvelous illustration of the creative wisdom and power of God, if God had created some primordial protoplasm that developed into the world we now see than if God had made the world at once as we now see it. Nature proves that there is a God.

History proves that there is a God. You take one little patch of history, the history of a single nation or of a few nations, for a few years, and it sometimes seems like a jangle without meaning, only portraying the conflicting ambitions and greeds of men. Might, right, and the weakest going to the wall. But take history in a large way, the history of centuries, take all history, and you will see that back of the jarring and conflicting passions, ambitions, combats and struggles of men, there is an all-governing, all-superintending, all-shaping Providence. You see that throughout all history “one increasing purpose runs,” “a power, not ourselves, which makes for righteousness.” History proves that there is a God.

But there is one special history that proves that there is a God, that is the history of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Great efforts have been put forth to disprove the authenticity of that history; men of the most remarkable genius, of the profoundest scholarship, of untiring activity, have struggled to pull to pieces the history of Jesus Christ, as recorded in the four gospels, and every effort of that kind has met with utter failure. The strongest, the ablest, the most remarkable and scholarly effort ever made was that of David Strauss, in the Loben Jesu. It seemed to some for awhile, as if David Strauss had succeeded in taking out of the life of Jesus of Nazareth many things commonly believed. But when the life of Jesus Christ by the great German rationalist was itself subjected to criticism, it went to pieces, until there was nothing left. It was utterly discredited. It would not bear careful and candid examination. Renan, with rare subtlety and literary deftness, endeavored to succeed where Strauss had failed. But his own attempt to eliminate the supernatural from the life of Jens was less able in almost every way than that of his German predecessor and failed completely. And every other similar effort to pull to pieces and discredit the life of Jesus Christ, as recorded in the four gospels, has failed absolutely. And today it stands established beyond the possibility of candid question that Jesus lived and acted, at least substantially—I believe far more than that—as recorded in the four gospels. It is absolutely impossible for a man to sit down before the four gospels with an unbiassed and honest mind, determined to find out the truth, and come to any other conclusion than that this four gospel record of the life and words and works of Jesus is substantially accurate history.

If Jesus lived as this Gospel says He did, if He wrought as this Gospel says He wrought, healed the sick, cleansed the leper, raised the dead, fed the five thousand with five loaves and two small fishes, and if, above all, having been put to death, He was raised from the dead, it proves to a demonstration that back of the works He performed, back of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is God. There is a God.

The history of the individual Christian proves the existence of God. I do not depend upon the argument from design or from history—I once did; I do not depend even upon the argument from the life of Jesus Christ—I once did. I know there is a God because I have personal dealings with Him every day of my life. Some subtle philosopher might construct a very specious argument to prove to me that there is no such person as Charles Alexander; but after all is said I still know that there is, for I have the most intimate relations with him everyday of my life. But I have had more intimate dealings with God than with Mr. Charles Alexander. I know that there is a God before I know that there is such a person as Mr. Charles Alexander. I started out years ago on the hypothesis that there was a God, and that God acted as the Bible records that He acts. I determined to put this hypothesis to the most rigid test to see if it worked. I have put that hypothesis to the test during a quarter of a century, and it has never failed. If there had not been a God, or if there had been a God different from the one of whom the Bible tells us, I should have made shipwreck of everything years ago. But the hypothesis has never failed; I have risked my life, reputation, work, everything upon the fact that the God of the Bible is. And, friends, I risked and won. THERE IS A GOD. Therefore the man who says that there is no God is a fool; for any man who denies a fact is a fool. He who denies the supreme fact is a supreme fool. Not only is there a God; but He is the supreme fact of nature, of history, of science, of philosophy, of personal life. Look at the first four words of the Bible, and you will read the profoundest philosophy. “In the beginning, God.” In the beginning of nature, God; in the beginning of science, God; in the beginning of human history, God; in the beginning of individual experience, God; in the beginning of everything, God. That is the supreme fact; and he who denies it merely because he does not want to believe it is the supreme fool.

THE GREATEST SENTENCE THAT WAS EVER WRITTEN

2011-06-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

“God is Love.”—1 John iv. 8.

My subject is the greatest sentence that was ever written. Of course, that sentence is in the Bible. All the greatest sentences are in the one Book. The Bible has a way of putting more in a single sentence than other writers can put in a whole book. Yet there are some who would tell us that the Bible is no more God’s Book than other books. Either they have not read the Bible, or they have read it with their eyes closed.

This sentence has in it but three words. Each word is a monosyllable. One word has four letters, one three, and one only two; yet these nine letters, forming three monosyllables, contain so much of truth that the world bas been pondering it for eighteen centuries, and has not got to the bottom of it yet. Whole volumes are dedicated to the exposition of this wonderful sentence—thousands of volumes.

1 John iv. 8, "God is love.” That is the greatest sentence that was ever written. That sentence is the key-note of the mission that begins to-day. Everything that you will hear in song or in word for the next four weeks in this mission revolves round that one central truth, “God is love.” That sums up the whole contents of the Bible. If I were asked for a sentence to print in letters of gold on the outside of our Bible, a sentence that summed up the whole contents of the Book, it would be this one, “God is love.” That is the subject of the first chapter of Genesis, it is the subject of the last chapter of Revelation, and it is the subject of every chapter that lies in between.

The Bible is simply God’s love story, the story of the love of a holy God to a sinful world. That is the most amazing thing in the Bible. People tell us the Bible is full of things that it is impossible to believe. I know of nothing else so impossible to believe as that a holy God should love a sinful world, and should love such individuals as you and me, as the Bible says He does. But impossible as it is to believe, it is true. There is mighty power in that one short sentence, power to break the hardest heart, power to reach individual men and women who are sunk down in sin, and to lift them up until they are fit for a place beside the Lord Jesus Christ upon the Throne.

When Mr. Moody organized the church in Chicago, of which I am pastor, he was so anxious that everybody should always hear this one truth, and was so afraid that some preacher might come and forget to tell it, that he had it put on the gas jets right above the pulpit, so that the first thing you would see when you went in there on an evening was that text shining out in letters of fire.

One stormy night, before the time of the meeting, the door stood ajar. A man partly intoxicated saw it open, and thought he might go in and get warm. He did not know what sort of a place it was, but when he pushed the door open he saw the text blazing out, “God is love.” He pulled the door to, and walked away muttering to himself. He said, “God is not love. If God is love, He would love me. God does not love a wretch like me.” But it kept on burning down into his soul, “God is love! God is love! God is love” After a while be retraced his steps, and took a seat in a corner. When Mr. Moody walked down after the meeting, he found the man weeping like a child. “What is the trouble?” he asked. “What was it in the sermon that touched you?” “I didn’t hear a word of your sermon.” “Well, what is the trouble?” “That text up there.” Mr. Moody sat down and from his Bible showed him the way of life, and he was saved.

I hope it will break some of your hearts. I am not going to tell you what I think of the love of God. I am going to give you the Bible’s plain statements about it. There are people who start out with this text as a foundation, and build a superstructure of speculation that contradicts the plain teaching of the very Book from which they have taken their foundation-stone. Now, nothing can be more illogical than that. One of two things is certainly true. Either the Bible is true, or it is not true. If the Bible is not true, we have no proof that God is love, so that all these universalist schemes, built on the foundation that “God is love,” crumble away. If the Bible is true, these schemes which contradict its plain teaching are false. You can take whichever horn of the dilemma you please. Whichever you take, the shallow universalism of the present day crumbles away.

What does the Bible tell us as to how God shows His love?

1. That God shows His love, by pardoning Sin.—Isaiah lv. 7: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” God tells us plainly in His Word that He is willing to forgive any sinner that lives, no matter how deep down he has gone, if he will only turn from sin and turn to Him; and He will forgive him the very moment he does so. Of course, God cannot forgive a man while he holds on to his sin, and retain His own moral character.

I have a boy. I love that boy, and I would give a great deal to see him now. I believe there is nothing that boy could do but, if he repented and turned from it, I would forgive him. But I could not forgive him if he held on to his evil way. I could continue to love him and seek to save him, but I could not forgive him. And God cannot forgive us, and remain what He is—a holy God—until we are ready to quit our sin. But the moment we are, He will have mercy upon us, and He will abundantly pardon. If the wickedest man or woman in Edinburgh should have come in tonight—and I hope they have—and should here and now turn from sin, the moment they did so, God would blot out every sin they ever committed.

I knew a millionaire in New York City who turned his back on all his business and money-making to save the perishing. When he was going down one of the streets one night, a poor woman came out of an underground den of infamy and groaned as he passed. My friend stepped up to her and told her of the love of God. At first she would not believe, but he persuaded her that God loved her. He gave her a shelter. She did not live long—only about two years—but before she died, Nellie Conroy stood up before a great audience in Cooper State, and told them how God had saved her. Tears were streaming down the faces of all. A little while after she lay dying, and as my friend came into the room, she said: “Uncle Charlie—he was not her uncle, but she called him so for the love she bore “I will soon see, in a few hours, little Florence, and I will see Jesus.” And Nellie Conroy, the pardoned and blood-washed sinner, went up to behold the King. There is not a man or woman in Edinburgh that God will not save the moment they turn from their sin.

2. God shows His Love by taking account of Sin, and punishing it.—Hebrews xii. 6: “For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He recieveth.” People think God will allow sin to go on unchecked, unrebuked, unpunished. “God is love” and therefore He takes account of and punishes sin. There are fathers who are so selfish that they will not punish their children when it is necessary for their good. It hurts their feelings, as it does to all true fathers; and they are so selfish that they sacrifice the welfare of the children in order to spare their own feelings. That is not love but consumate selfishness.

One of my children disobeyed me. I said to myself, “That child must be punished.” Oh, how I studied to find some way out, but I could not do it. I knew that for the child’s highest welfare, punishment must be administered, and the child was punished. I suffered a great deal more than the child, but I loved the child enough to sacrifice my feelings for the child’s welfare. God suffers when you and I are punished; but He loves us so much, that when we need to suffer He administers the suffering Himself.

A gentleman with whom I was staying said to me one day, “Would you like to take a drive?” We went out to a cemetery, and came to a place where there were three graves. One was long; it was an adult one, and in it his wife was buried. In the two short graves were the bodies of his two daughters, all he had except a baby boy. We knelt and prayed by the side of the graves. As we were driving back to town the gentleman said, “I pity the man that God has not chastened.” What did he mean? He meant that he had been a man of the world, an upright man, but not a Christian. One night when he came home his wife said, “Porter, one of the children is sick.” In a few days she was cold and dead; and, as she lay in the casket, he knelt down and promised God to take Christ as his Lord and Master. But he lied to God, and forgot all about his resolution. Some time after he came home again, and his wife said, “Porter, the other child is sick.” In a few days she also lay cold and dead. Once more he knelt down and promised God that he would become a Christian, and accept his word. All the holiest, deepest, purest joys of life had come from his great sorrow.

Are you in sorrow? It is because God loves you. Are there some here resisting the entreaties of God’s mercy and grace? I beseech you to repent. I tremble for some men and women, for those who know the way of life, with whom God is striving by His Holy Spirit, but who will not come to Him. I tremble for them, because I know that God loves them. You think that is a very strange reason for trembling for a man. No, I know God loves you, and so loves you that, if He cannot bring you in any other way, He will bring you by sorrow and heart-ache.

A friend of mine in Chicago, Colonel Clark, spent his fortune in saving the lost. He went down every night to preach the Gospel in a mission. There was one man who had been attending and resisting God’s entreaties of mercy for a long time; and one night as he came along Col. Clark said, “George, if you do not turn from sin pretty quick, I believe God will take away your wife and child from you, and will lock you up.” The man was very angry, and said, “Colonel Clark, you mind your own business; I will mind mine.” One month from that night George woke up on the floor of Rochester Jail. His wife was dead, his child had been taken away from him to be put into better hands than his. Right there he took Christ as his Saviour, and now he is a preacher of the Gospel. Remember, God loves you, and “whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.”

3. God shows His love for us by sympathizing with us.—Isaiah lxiii. 9: “In all their affliction He was afflicted.” That is one of the wonderful sentences of this book. The prophet is speaking about the children of Israel. Their afflictions were appalling, and the direct consequence of their own sin, a judgment sent by the hand of God, and yet the prophet said God suffered with them in their sorrow. It is true. There is not a man or woman here who is in trouble but God sympathizes with you. It may have come in any way, but if you have any trouble God sympathizes with you in it.

Some of you may know what it is to have a child sick for a long time. At first friends came and sympathized with you, but their sympathy has grown cold; and, as you have watched day and night by that fading life you have said: “There is no one who sympathizes with me.” Yes there is. God sympathizes with you. There are men and women who have a sorrow of such a character that they cannot confide it to any human ear; and they say: “Nobody knows it. Nobody sypathizes with me.” Yes, there is One who knows, and He sympathizes with you—God.

4. God shows His Love by His Gifts.—I cannot dwell upon that. I just want to speak of one gift. 1 John iii. 1, 2: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” Oh, that wondrous gift that God bestowed upon you and me, that men and women like us should be called children of God! Oh, what love! Suppose on his coronation day King Edward, after all the the ceremonies were over, had taken his carriage of state, and had ridden down to the East End of London, and had seen some ragged, wretched, profane boy, utterly uneducated and morally corrupt. Suppose his great heart of love had gone out to that boy, and, stepping up to that poor wanderer, he had said: “I love you I am going to take you in my carriage to the palace. I am going to dress you fit to be a king’s son, and. you shall be known as the son of King Edward the Seventh.” Would it not have been wonderful? But it would not have been so wonderful as that the infinitely holy God should have looked down upon you and me in our filthiness and rags and depravity, and that He should have so loved us that He should have bestowed upon us to be called the sons of God.

5. God shows His Love by the Sacrifice He has made for us.—Sacrifice; after all that is the great test of love. People tell you that they love you, but you cannot tell whether they really love you till the opportunity comes for them to make a sacrifice for you. I have a friend in the university. We thought a good deal of each other; but I did not know how much he loved me. Years after, one night when I was away preaching, this friend turned up at my house and got to talking with my wife. He asked a good many leading questions, and finally got out of her that I was in a position in which I needed fifteen hundred dollars. He did not say any more at the time, but next day he came to me and said: “You think of doing so and so.” “Yes.” “That costs money!’ “I have a scheme to get it.” “What is it?” “I have plans.” “Well, what are they?” I did not think it was his business, but finally I told him. He said: “It will not work at all. See here. Just let me give you that fifteen hundred dollars!” “Well,” I said, “I am not going to let any man give me fifteen hundred dollars.” “Oh, you can pay it back” “I don’t know about that.” “I will take my chances.” He insisted, and would not take “No” for an answer; he gave me that fifteen hundred dollars, and I have paid it back, but he did not know I would. I knew then that man loved me. God has proved His love. “God so loved the world that gave”—gave what?—His only begotten Son”—the best He had, the object of his eternal love—gave Him to suffer and die upon the cruel cross for you and me.

God looked down upon this lost world, upon you and me. He saw that there was only one price that would save us; and He did not stop at that sacrifice. He “so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” That is the most amazing thing in the Bible. You and I sometimes dwell upon the love of Christ, to give up Heaven for us. We look at Him in the courtyard of Pilate, fastened to the whipping-post, with His bare back exposed to the lash of the Roman soldier. We look at Him as the lash cuts into His back again and again, and again, till it is all torn and bleeding. Oh, how He loves us! But looking down from yon throne in heaven was God; and every lash that cut the back of Christ cut the heart of God. We see the soldiers with the crown of thorns, pressing it on His brow, and we see the blood flowing down. Oh, how he loved us! But every thorn that pierces His brow pierced also the heart of God.

Through the dusk of that awful day we see Him on the cross. We hear the last cry, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?” We see how He loved us. But yonder, looking down from the throne of light and glory, was God; and every nail that pierced His hands and feet pierced the heart of God, because He loved you, and you, and you, every one of you. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” Oh, it was wonderful! What are you going to do about this love?

I once heard a story which brought me such a glimpse of God’s love as I never had before. I do not know whether it is true or not. A man was set to watch a railway drawbridge over a river. He threw it open and let vessels through. He heard the whistle of a train up the track, and sprang to the lever to bring the bridge back into place, and as he was doing so he accidentally pushed his boy into the river. He heard tbe cry, “Father, save me; I am drowning.” What should he do? The man stood at the post of duty, brought the bridge back so that the train could pass over in safety. Then he jumped into the river to save his boy, but it was too late. He sacrificed his boy to do His duty. When I heard that story I wondered, if it had been my boy, what I would have done. That man owed it to those on the train to do what he did. God owed you and me nothing. We were guilty rebels against him, but “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him sbould not perish, but have everlasting life.”

What are you going to do with His love? Accept it, or trample it under foot? Accept Christ, and you accept that love; reject Christ, and you trample that love under foot. I cannot understand how any man or woman in their right senses can harden their hearts against the love of God.

I remember one night at the close of our service we had an after-meeting. The choir were still sitting, and the leading soprano was unconverted—a thoroughly worldly girl. Her mother rose in the meeting, and said, “I wish you would pray for my daughter.” I did not look around, but I knew intuitively how that girl looked at that momcnt. I made it my business to meet her as she was passing out and said, “Good evening, Cora.” Her eyes flashed and cheeks burned; she was very angry. She said, “My mother ought to have known better. She knows it will only make me worse.” I said, “Sit down”; and turned to Isaiah liii. 5: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.” I did not say another word. It was not necessary. The anger faded out of those eyes, and burning tears of penitence ran down her cheeks. I went from home next day, and when I came back some one said, “Cora is sick.” I found her very sick, but rejoicing in Jesus. A few days after her brother came and said, “We think Cora is dying.” I went at once, and looked on the whitest face I ever saw. She had not opened her eyes all the morning; but, after I had finished praying, there came from those lips—still without opening her eyes—the most wonderful prayer I ever heard. She thanked God for giving His son to die for her. She told Him how she longed to live to sing to His glory, as she had sung in the past for herself; but “if it be not Thy will that I live and sing for Christ, I shall be glad to depart and to be with Christ.” And depart she did, with a heart conquered, transformed, by the love of God. What are you going to do with the love of God?

I have here a story cut from a paper to-day. Mrs. Bottome, of New York City, says that she had a friend in her girlhood of whom she lost sight completely for eighteen years. Going back to New York she was passing along a street, and up in a second story window she saw her friend’s face, surrounded by prematurely grey hair. She ran up to the door of the house and said to the maid, “Take that card to your mistress.” “She is not at home,” was the answer. “Oh yes, she is: I saw her at the window”; and Mrs. Bottome rushed past the maid up into the room, and they fell into one another’s arms. “What has become of you for all these years?” asked Mrs. Bottome. The answer was, “Come into the other room, and I will show you.” In a room magnificently fitted up there sat an idiot boy of seventeen years of age, scarcely able to talk—a driveling idiot. His mother said “My duty lies here, with my darling boy.” Mrs. Bottome says that in a moment of thoughtlessness she asked, “How can you endure it? I do not wonder you are prematurely grey.” "I knew you would not understand my love for my sweet boy,” said her indignant friend. “It is no burden, no care, to live and serve my boy; and if, some day, he will only give one sign that he recognizes me as his mother, I will feel repaid for all the years of love I have lavished on him.”

That was but a faint image of the love of God. What are you going to do with this love of God? That boy did not repay his mother’s love; for, as Mrs. Bottome says, he was an idiot and did not know any better. You are not idiots. You know God’s love: how are you going to repay it?

Source: Revival Addresses by R.A. Torrey, 1856-1928

ON BEING THE PEOPLE OF GOD

2011-06-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

Dr. Girma Bekele [PhD, Political Theology] is Leadership and Missions Consultant, and an Adjunct Professor of Missions and Development Studies at Wycliffe College in the University of Toronto, Canada. He has worked in Relief and Development both as practitioner and consultant. He and his nurse wife, Genet Geremew, reside in Toronto with their three children: Yonathan, 11, Mahilet, 9 and Eyeol, 2. They worship and minister at the Ethiopian Evangelical Church in Toronto and are also active at a local English-speaking church. ETHIOPIANCHURCH BLOG recently interviewed him on account of his new book, The In-Between People: A Reading of David Bosch through the Lens of Mission History and Contemporary Challenges In Ethiopia [Wipf & Stock, 2011]. Following is Part I of the interview:

ETHIOPIANCHURCH: Congratulations on your book “The In-between People”. So who are the In-Between People? Why this particular title?

Dr. Girma: Thank you. The In-Between People are the people of God, and refers to their bridging position within a society. We need to ask what it means to be the people of God in the age of polarization and extremism. The church is called to be true to itself as a community of God-in-mission – the Alternative Community, a true alternative to all other allegiances—the new humanity in Christ. Meaningful dialogue is possible by a willingness to stand in-between the gaps! In-Between People dares—with bold-humility—to suggest that the Ethiopian churches are called to stand between opposing polarities—socio-ethnic, political and economic.

May I also add that the cover of the book shows the idea of light radiating through the layers of dark rocks—in-between. Just in the same way the cross stood between heaven and earth, now the church lives in-between: in continuity with the life and work of Jesus.

Could you tell us in one sentence the central thesis of your work?

It is a missional call for the church to be true to herself in being sent into the world as a bridge, as a re-enactment of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ in its comprehensives—meeting humanity in its entirety.

What are its main themes?

In spite of centuries of triumphal history as one of the oldest independent nations, Ethiopia is still one of the poorest countries in the world. The combined effects of famine, war, failed successive state-enforced socio-political and economic policies and one-sided neoliberal globalization have exacerbated the socio-economic disparities Ethiopia has inherited deepening the level of poverty. The historic rivalry between the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) and Evangelical Ethiopian Churches (EEC) which together constitute about 63% of the population and the encroachment of nominalism are causing self-inflected wounds on Christian mission in the country. The current violence perpetrated by Islamic extremists is also a problem Ethiopia cannot afford, although this latter issue is not the immediate focus of the book. In-Between People looks at the past respectfully, but critically. It also looks to the future with great optimism for a better mission, for God is our God as much as he has been to generations before us.
Who are your intended readers?

Global church leaders, theologians, and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) and Ethiopian Evangelical Churches (EECs); and in the latter two cases: theologians, clergies and pastors, Christian public policy and law makers, academics, entrepreneurs and leaders. Taking Ethiopia as its immediate context, In-Between People considers issues facing 21st century global Christianity. The landscape and context of Christian mission and identity has significantly changed since the June 1910 World Missionary Conference, held in the city of Edinburgh, which was considered one of the most defining gatherings in the entire history of Christianity. As such, the book contains an updated research in Christian mission history. It has considered over 300 primary resources and the fact it has been endorsed by globally respected scholars such as Andrew F. Wall of Liverpool and Edinburgh Universities and Jonathan Bonk of Yale and Overseas Ministries Study Center, broadens the appeal of the book to a wider readership and gives weight to its call for renewal.

Is the title of your book a euphemism for the Cross? Is not “just be – living in the state of witness” just another phrase for “discipleship”?

Not really! The church can never replace the Cross, but cannot run away from bearing it as a witness to its purpose, meaning and fruit. Jesus is the bridge between God and humanity, for in his own body on the Cross he reconciled Jews and Gentiles; he demolished the wall of partition and thus transformed erstwhile enemies into a single humanity. As the cross-bearing witness, just like Jesus by whose wounds our wounds are healed, so the church is called to bear his scars as a living hope for the genuineness of the life of Church as the Alternative Community where walls of division are destroyed.

My emphasis on “just be – living in the state of witness” guards us from defining the Christian mission as sets of various activities (whatever those sets may be, for instance, evangelism plus social action). These are problematic and open a door for extreme passivism (withdrawal), exclusivism (no openness to other possibilities and confinement in own-world view) or utopianism (diminishing the eschatological dimension of the church). I have argued that the mandate for mission is “just be—live continually in the state of witnessing”—be in mission as a response to the call of God in Christ in its entirety. As such mission is not just what the church does, but it is the radiation of what the church is. Mission happens when the church realizes that her members are the living people of God—transformed by him through the life and work of Jesus Christ and now empowered by the Holy Spirit as sign and agents of the same transforming power in the world. The testimony the church has to offer to the world is none other than herself as being redeemed by the power of God’s compassionate love. As Bosch puts it: “Belief in God is a matter of confessing that one has been known, loved, called, redeemed by Another whom one only knows because [that Other] has so acted. It is moving from the language of argument to that of testimony. We cannot argue ourselves into knowledge of another person. That person must meet us.”

I like the term “the Marxist interlude” for, indeed, the 1974 Socialist Revolution did irrevocably alter social relations in Ethiopia. On the other hand, collaboration between the state and the church before and after the Revolution has remained unchanged. We see the state meddling in the affairs of the church [or church leaders playing it safe and in the process living in a state of “un-witness”. Do you think much has changed at all?

State-church relationship has always been one of the thorniest issues in the Christian debate; and there is no one fixed blueprint that suits all. I will dwell a little longer on this question.

First, the theological/theoretical aspect. The question is perhaps best answered by underlining the universal fact that the church is both and at the same time a sociological and eschatological entity—earthly and transcendental. These two characteristics need to be held in a creative tension, and maintaining the balance of between these dual existences is a constant challenge; and we need to accept the fact that ambiguity will always be a part of church’s identity. The temptation for the church is to lean to one side of her mode of existence – neglecting the validity of the other self. It is a temptation to become either “irrelevant (behaving irrespective of what goes on in the world) or absorbed (becomes like any other social group where the demarcation between the Church and the world is blurred).

Second, the pragmatic question. How, then, is the church, with its two-dimensional existence, to behave in the face of injustice? How can the Church behave responsibly in her relationship with the world? At the outset, I would like to correct two major misunderstandings regarding the relationship between Church and world. First, the assumption that “world” and “Church” can be neatly distinguished. This misunderstanding manifests itself both by isolationism and triumphalism. In the former instance, the church “may be characterized by a ghetto mentality and the latter refers to a view that sees the world as something to be conquered and hence, success-oriented, as exemplified by the optimism of the 1910 World Mission Conference of Edinburgh – that nothing was impossible. The second misunderstanding is the “absence of any tension between Church and world”—where the church is identified with the world and self-invalidating her own uniqueness. The church becomes redundant as it is the world that sets the agenda and the individualness of people and their need to meet God is overshadowed with “preoccupation with macro-structures and world-wide problems.” The church forgets that at times she is part of the problem and blames the world for all wrongs. In the process, there is presumptuousness that the church has the solution to the problems of the world forgetting that we can never say for sure that our programs and solutions are in full accordance to the will of God. The church is caught in the battle for the recognition of her own socio-political voice like any other socio-political program that hopes for utopia, neglecting the reality of sin and evil that is beyond human realm and ability to address. The ambiguity that exists between the Church’s words and deeds or inaction is easily forgotten.

A contextually relevant mission holds sociological and eschatological dimensions of the church in creative tension. While sin indeed shows itself and bears its bitter fruit in the evil structures of our world, it is fundamentally a state of every individual person and people. It is an ontological state of humanity; and no amount of social transformation, humanization of structures and elimination of forms of oppressions will radically cure it; such efforts will always fall short of the ideal. The Community of God, as the Alternative Community, should guard itself from a secularized, horizontalized and even politicized mission for that would mean the elimination of an essential boundary between the reign of God and the affairs of the fallen world—blurring the eschatological and sociological dimension of the church. On the other hand, the Alternative Community must not condone escapism. The quest for justice and the struggle to be in active solidarity with the poor, the oppressed, and those who are at the margins is an integral part of authentic mission. It is a witness to the compassion and justice that has already arrived in the reign of God in the “here and now”—“in the already-yet tension”, and is offered by the risen Lord as a gift to be fully embraced by the Alternative Community, which in turns shares it with world. Such is the seed, the beginning of the new creation; and its fullest realization will come at the end of the present age.

The church is always in motion, and she confronts every power and structure that dehumanizes and seeks justice, freedom, equality and fair prosperity for every human being. She is always on the move and does stay on the “right” or the “left”, and can be critical of both. The tension between the Church and world will always be there and the moment the church begins to settle in, her “theology will easily be displaced by ideology.” What if her prophetic voice is rejected? I agree with Bosch who answers by pointing to the very meaning of the cross, for the church cannot copy the way of the world in resolving problems but has to follow the way of suffering. There on the cross, the irreconcilable difference between God and humans, Gentiles and Jews, Romans and Zealots got its final solution. In the same way, “wherever the Church is truly the Church, wherever it is faithful to its calling and its essence to the point of suffering, it cannot but irritate and frustrate the powers that be, whether these power structures be political, religious, economic, or social… By its very existence [it] is a threat to the status quo.”

In a nut shell, I am suggesting for a creative, progressive and contextually relevant answer to different forms of injustice exerted under different styles of government – from tyrant on one end to supposedly Christian and democratic on the other – for I believe that the church has tremendous significance for society precisely because she is a uniquely separate community — indeed, salt and light! I suggest readers carefully read a section in my book where I discussed the quest for global social justice looking at various models in the trajectory of mission history, including the four state-religion models that were operational at the time of Jesus. These four models – which my dialogue partner, Bosch, calls the human options, were in many ways classical and find their voices, fully or partially, in various missiological self-expressions.

How would you define a community from a Christian perspective? How does that differ from, say, a Marxist or a Neo-liberal definition?

The church is not a gathering of people around common ideology or any social program. Rather, it is a living gathering of people around the person of Jesus Christ – the unique and the only Word, Way, Truth and Life. When a person follows Jesus he or she is affirming, both in word and in deed, allegiance to God and the values of His Kingdom. Any other reason for existence other than accepting and radiating this truth makes the church just another broken social group within the larger metanarrative of brokenness in a society. The church as the Alternative Community does not mean the creation of an alternative society—a ghetto with a pessimistic view of the world as irredeemably lost and without hope. Neither is it to be conformed to the values of the status quo. In being called and sent out at the same time, the church must live as the Alternative Community (a counter community to Satan and his kingdom that manifests itself in evil, both personal and structural) in the world but not of the world. The church lives as a hope for the world, against the hopelessness of the world. The church is distinct, unique, and alternative to any other form of community. As such, she has to be true to her identity as a community that is both sociological and eschatological at the same time. Despite imperfections, she remains a social entity as well as the sign of the Kingdom of God. She is the embodiment on earth of the new order, the new “government” which has been inaugurated by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ where all human-made differences are made relative. And of course, values and differences that are contrary to the Kingdom of God are demolished!

One of your goals in studying the role of the church in society is to stimulate debates on reconciliation within society and on formation of a frame for actionable proposals. First, your goal, if I am reading you correctly, would seem to suggest there is a conflict. The official statement coming from our homeland, on the other hand, would contradict such a statement. In other words, it is ‘diversity,’ not ‘ethnic conciseness,’ as you yourself aptly phrased it; ‘developmental state,’ not ‘centralization of power,’ etc. Second, who do you have in mind to buy into your recommendations? It appears the Orthodox Church is herself experiencing great discord within her ranks compounded by fear of change and challenges coming from those outside her fold. Evangelical churches, at the leadership level, are busy acting “foreign” and turning into “exclusive groups” fearful of input from outside their respective circles. Could you speak to that?

I begin by mentioning the obvious that Ethiopia’s political and religious landscape has changed dramatically in the last two decades. The current regime can be fairly and legitimately criticized for its shortcomings, like any other system of governance. However, one of its exceptional and commendable achievements is ensuring freedom of religion. This is very unprecedented, certainly for Evangelicals.

In terms of the socio-political system, by all accounts, most political parties agree to some sort of federalism that recognizes the diversity in Ethiopia. As such, the challenge is not so much whether or not some form of federalism is needed, but beyond contention, it is a political necessity for the peaceful co-existence of Ethiopia’s diverse people. The question of ethnic self-determination has inseparably been intertwined with the making of Ethiopia’s national socio-political and economic agenda. Nonetheless, the credibility of any federal-regional political system hinges upon the maintenance of a constitutionally inclusive, transparent and sustainable distribution of power between the centre and the regional states through a democratic process that allows a meaningful dialogue for the mutual and common benefit of all. In country such as Ethiopia preferential option for the poor and the marginalized is both a moral (I go even further by saying a Biblical) and socio-political necessity. .

There is a genuine (at least implicit) fear of dominance and anarchy. The current political mistrust that may be evolving into protective and exclusionary walls between ethnic groups can, in one sense, be explained as a reflexive action, revealing the deep-seated wounds of the past. Federalism built on fear of each other is not free from vengefulness and paternalism. There is an implicit resentment, to say the least, that reveals itself in exclusivism or a form of neo-paternalism. Unless these walls of fear and suspicion are transcended with genuine reconciliation and meaningfully negotiated share of power, they will make federalism very superficial and diminish the ground for mutual flourishing, creating a highly insecure society made up of ethnic groups that refuse to see each other outside the keyholes of ethnic walls. The perfecting of federalism in Ethiopia, thus, has to be a matter of progressive and open dialogue that takes into account various local as well as global socio-economic and political dynamics. The solution is not to dwell in the past, but to learn, un-learn, read, and re-read history in its context and move on. Otherwise, we will be prisoners of history!

What it is the role of Ethiopian churches in this dialogue? They cannot pretend to remain unaffected, for that involves the denial of the sociological dimension of their existence. Nor can they afford merely to dance to current political tune, undiscerningly agreeing with or denouncing how history is understood and used in framing political agendas. The church is called to be a healer—a salt to preserve, heal, and give life a test and a light in darkness. The challenge that is presented to the contemporary Ethiopian church is, therefore, whether or not she will live up to this true calling and identity as the sign of the Alternative Community whose members see each other not through the prism of ethnicized political history but as heirs of salvation history. The church lives neither for the north nor for the south, but in living for Christ, she becomes the sign of the community of God, redeemed out of all tribes and languages and from all walks of life.

Evangelicals are now enjoying unprecedented freedom. The rather pressing question is whether there is a mature leadership to guide the church towards healing, reconciliation and reformation. Does one observe a shift of tone within the evangelical community that is symptomatic of a kind of reverse religious supremacy and paternalism? To this day, the EOTC remains in denial that Evangelicals had any patriotic Ethiopian significance. Now, are Evangelicals doing the reverse but in a different sense? In other words, are Evangelicals denying any spiritual and salvific significance to the EOTC entirely invalidating the latter’s missionary journey and the role she played in preserving the Christian heritage (however fragmented it might have been) and ignoring her struggle to preserve the unity of the country against foreign aggression? To speak as if God was at the margins during the 1600-year history of the EOTC, even if she allowed indiscriminate syncretism (partly due to lack of theologically erudite priests) suggests the same religious hegemony that the EOTC is criticized for. The current attacks on each other that have surfaced on the web do serve no purposes but mutual alienation. This is a very immature behavior that will affect their individual missiological significance. Healing in the country begins when these two Christian bodies find ways to dialogue – a step towards a genuine reformation as the people of God!

Evangelicals, more than ever, are facing the question of credibility for they not only are being drafted, wittingly or unwittingly, to ethnic particularism, but are deeply divided (sadly, due to immature leadership and personal ambitions) with a decline on basic Christian values. This is a spirit-quenching road to nominalism—the very criticism that they have been leveling against the EOTC. It is very hard to assert that evangelicalism in Ethiopia has universal public voice on any given social, moral, theological, ethical and public policies. It is hypocritical to talk about national unity and healing, when the church is deeply divided and contributing to the problem.

Do you think “religious freedom” would have continued had the church taken a stand on social issues?

I do not think so; and even if it did I do not think it will be worse than during the communist regime.[*] Regardless, the church has no choice but to be true to herself—and cannot escape from being irritant to any system that behaves contrary to the values of the Kingdom of God. First, the issue of credibility is the urgent question – the church cannot speak against injustice when she mirrors the world in its corruption and injustice. One cannot claim to be a good shepherd to his/her congregation where the majority are poor and yet his or her life style is immoderate, to put it mildly. We have to deal with a similar issue of social elitism that some early missionaries were guilty of.

You talk a great deal about centering the debates on the realities of poverty and structural injustices. We bear witness to intensity of evangelistic outreach going on in our country. This is a positive development and we praise the Lord for it. The reality over the past two decades especially in evangelical churches is such that the community is also being challenged by individualism [proliferation of personal ministries competing with the church], consumerism and rise of Christian celebrities, imported strategies, bad theology [for example, that material comforts are a sign of God’s favor]. Churches are enjoying “new freedoms” and avoiding confronting structural evils or simply denying they exist even as their witness is marred by corruption and moral failures of every kind. Just listen to songs and sermons – rarely do you hear mention of heaven – that is, if you could manage to wade through the half-English, half-Amharic verbiage.

There are three ineffective ways of answering this question. First, that of an idealist who fails to see the concreteness of our earthliness—we are in the process of being perfected and the church is too late for the world, and too early for the Kingdom, as Bosch would say. Second, is that of a pessimistic view that fails to see anything positive, with the feeling of despair. The final is that of a utopist that fails to recognize that perfection is at the end an eschatological destiny. None of these is helpful. My approach is optimistically prophetic, meaning we believe that God is at work and he is not confined with the shortcomings of the church and he does work and transform his church in his own way. Some time we feel like Elijah who felt so lonely that he wanted to resign from the Kingdom’s task! He felt hopeless that the spiritual, moral and social decay within his people was too severe to reform. It is good to be reminded that God is still in charge, and that he has a remnant in each generation. As a prophetic critic from within we should speak against corruption—spiritual, moral, socio-political and economic. God is with us!

The challenge for us is to be found amongst his remnant. When the church loses her saltiness everything in society sours! Yes, we need a sound theology, and a move away from consumerism, institutional competiveness (well we live in the age corporate rule!) obsession with blessings exclusively in terms of material gain. At times, the current charismatic crisis is due to a false hope, a false expectation and unrealized false dreams. Our pulpits are very vulnerable to emotionally charged shallow sermons. The temptation is to become a personality- and opinion-driven motivational speaker and fail to put the cross of Christ at the center. We cannot endorse everything that is being said from church pulpits – we are to discern what of the Spirit and what of the flesh. Just as we are saved by grace alone, so do we serve by grace alone. We can add nothing to this fact and it is the prerogative of the Holy Spirit to convict the world. There is a legitimate concern Ethiopian churches are being shaped by consumer-driven, seeker-friendly high-tech preaching of American mega-churches. We should not forget that we are called to model Jesus Christ. At the end of the day, Benny Hinn is only human and so are Ted Haggard, Bishop Eddie Long and many others…! We need to come back to the Bible without reading our presuppositions into it or making it speak our ‘shallow and incoherent theologies’. Truthfulness to the Bible and Spirit-filled commitment to the life that Jesus demands should inform and shape our theology; and theology our spirituality, spirituality our character, character our destiny and of those whom we serve! No tradition or single person or school of thought has the whole truth, and certainly cannot replace the biblical norms. [Part 3]
[*] Dr. Girma requested we replace the above response with the following: "I do think so; and even if it does not, I do not think it will be worse than during the communist regime."

Losing All To Gain Christ

2011-06-16T19:20:00.000-07:00

... John Sung himself believed that he was not converted until he went through a spiritual crisis in America many years later. When he was nine years old [1910], a revival occurred in Hinghwa, China. Within a month there were about 3,000 professions. On Good Friday morning he heard a sermon on “Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.” The preacher contrasted the sleeping Disciples with the fearlessness of Jesus. Many people wept with grief at the end of the sermon. Among the mourners was John Sung, the nine-year-old son of the Methodist preacher. It seems to me that John Sung “dedicated” his life to Christ but was not truly converted at this time. Like my former pastor, Dr. Timothy Lin (whose father was also a preacher), John Sung began to preach and help his father by the age of thirteen. But, also like Dr. Lin, he had not yet experienced real conversion. He was a diligent student and finished high school at the top of his class. During this time he became known as the “little pastor.” But in spite of all his zeal and activity his heart was not completely satisfied. The work he was doing in ministry he described as “spectacular as the blue of a kingfisher’s feather, abundant as summer foliage, but without a single plucking of fresh fruit to offer to the Lord Jesus” (Leslie T. Lyall, A Biography of John Sung, China Inland Mission, 1965 edition, p. 15).

In 1919, Sung, now 18 years old, decided to go to America, and was accepted at Ohio Wesleyan University with free tuition. He began a pre-medical and pre-theological curriculum, but dropped the pre-theological courses and decided to specialize in mathematics and chemistry. He went to church regularly and organized evangelistic bands among the students. But during his final term he began to neglect Bible study and prayer, and cheated on one of his examination papers. He graduated in 1923 cum laude, as one of four students at the head of a class of three hundred. He was awarded the gold medal and the cash prize for physics and chemistry, was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Fraternity, an exclusive society of the foremost scholars, and was given a gold key, a badge of great distinction in scholarship.

He was now offered scholarships from many universities, including Harvard. He accepted a scholarship for a Master of Science degree at Ohio State University. He finished this degree in only nine months! He was offered a scholarship to study medicine at Harvard. He was given another offer to study at a seminary. He felt he should study theology, but the fame that had come to him blunted his desire to become a minister. Instead he entered a doctoral program in chemistry at Ohio State University. He completed his Ph.D. in just twenty-one months! Thus he became the first Chinese to earn a Ph.D. He was described in the newspaper as “Ohio’s most famous student.” “But deep in his heart there was no peace. A growing spiritual unrest showed itself in periods of deep depression” (Lyall, ibid., p. 22).

During this time he came under the influence of liberal theology, and their teaching of the “social gospel.” Liberal theology teaches that Jesus is a noble example, but not the Saviour. It seems to me that John Sung thought of Jesus as a “noble example” when he was nine years old, and for that reason he had a false conversion back then. But God was still calling him. One evening as he sat alone he seemed to hear the voice of God say to him, “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

The next day he had a conversation with a liberal Methodist professor. He told the professor that he had originally come to America to study theology. The professor challenged him to go to New York to study religion at the extremely liberal Union Theological Seminary. With only a moment’s hesitation he decided to go. At Union Seminary he was given a full scholarship and a generous living allowance. Later he said that he was not interested in the ministry, but only wanted to study theology for a year to satisfy his father, and then return to a scientific career. His heart was full of turmoil and darkness.

In the autumn of 1926 Dr. John Sung enrolled at Union Theological Seminary. The extremely liberal Dr. Henry Sloane Coffin had just been installed as president. Among the lecturers were such hard-core liberals as Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, the author of several books against Fundamentalism, such as “The Modern Use of the Bible” and “The Manhood of the Master.” His most famous lecture was “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?” (1922). He preached against the bodily resurrection of Christ and the truthfulness of the Bible every week on his radio program. The Seminary was a hot-bed of criticism of the Bible and rejection of evangelical theology. “Anything in the Bible which could not be justified scientifically was rejected as being unworthy of belief! Genesis was held to be unhistorical and belief in miracles unscientific. The historical Jesus was presented as an ideal to imitate, while the substitutionary value of His death and His physical resurrection were denied. Prayer was regarded as largely subjective in value. To [disagree with] such view was to become an object of pity or derision” (Lyall, ibid., pp. 29-30).

Dr. Sung plunged into his study of liberal theology with all the powers of his intellect. During that year he made high grades, but turned away from Christianity as he studied Buddhism and Taoism. He began chanting Buddhist scriptures in the seclusion of his room, hoping that self-denial would bring him peace. He wrote, “My soul wandered in a wilderness.”

In this state of mind he became close friends with a Chinese classmate, but the fact that he was betrothed to a girl in China made him break off the relationship. His life became intolerable. He wrote, “I could neither sleep nor eat…My heart was filled with the deepest unhappiness.” The officials at the Seminary noted that he was in a state of continual depression.

It was in this emotional state that he went with some other students to hear Dr. I. M. Haldeman, the fundamentalist pastor of the First Baptist Church of New York City. Dr. Haldeman was famous for saying, “He who denies the virgin birth denies Bible Christianity.” Dr. Haldeman was in a direct conflict with Harry Emerson Fosdick and Union Theological Seminary. John Sung went to hear him preach out of curiosity. But Dr. Haldeman did not preach that night. Instead a fifteen-year-old girl gave her testimony. She read the Scriptures and spoke on the substitutionary death of Christ on the Cross. Sung said he could feel the presence of God. His companions from the Seminary scoffed, but he himself went back for four more consecutive evenings of evangelistic services.

He began to read Christian biographies to discover the power that he felt in the evangelistic meetings. During one session at the Seminary, a lecturer spoke strongly against the substitutionary death of Christ on the Cross. John Sung stood up at the end of the lecture and answered him in front of a startled student body. Finally, on February 10, 1927 he experienced true conversion. “He saw all the sins of his life spread out before him. At first it seemed that there was no way to get rid of them and that he must go to Hell. He tried to forget them, but he could not. They pierced his heart…He turned to the story of the Cross in Luke xxiii, and as he read the story came alive…he seemed to be there at the foot of the Cross and pleading to be washed from all his sins in the precious Blood…He continued weeping and praying until midnight. Then he [seemed to hear] a voice saying, ‘Son, thy sins are forgiven,’ and all his load of sin seemed to fall at once from his shoulders…he leapt to his feet with a shout of ‘Hallelujah!’” (Lyall, ibid., pp. 33-34). He ran shouting and praising God through the dormitory. He now began to speak to everyone about their need for Christ, including his classmates and the teachers at the Seminary.

The president of the Seminary thought he had lost his mind due to extreme scholastic efforts, and had him committed to a psychopathic ward in an insane asylum. He spent six months in the asylum. During that time he read the Bible from beginning to end forty times. “The mental hospital thus became John Sung’s real theological college!” (Lyall, p. 38). He was finally released on the condition that he would return to China. John Sung had cut off his connection with Union Seminary when he burned his theological books, calling them, “books of demons.” Union Seminary has never been proud of its connection with the greatest evangelist in Chinese history.

On his voyage back to China he knew that he could easily obtain a position as a professor of chemistry in some Chinese university. “One day, as the vessel neared the end of its voyage, John Sung went down to his cabin, took out of his cabin trunk his diplomas, his medals and his fraternity keys and threw them overboard [into the sea]. All except his doctor’s diploma, which he retained to satisfy his father” (Lyall, p. 40).

Dr. John Sung stepped off the boat in Shanghai in the fall of 1927, to become the most famous evangelist in Chinese history. He is often called the “Wesley of China.” John Sung became an extremely powerful preacher of the Gospel. Over 100,000 were converted in China under his preaching in only three years! He also preached in Burma, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines. He always preached with a translator, even in China. Like Whitefield, John Sung personally counseled most of those who responded to his preaching. “Christians today in China and Taiwan owe much to Sung’s ministry; he was one of God’s greatest gifts to the Far East in the twentieth century” (T. Farak, in J. D. Douglas, Ph.D., Who’s Who in Christian History, Tyndale House, 1992, p. 650).

He died of intestinal tuberculosis in 1944, at the age of forty-two. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).

by Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr. [A sermon preached at the Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles. Saturday Evening, June 6, 2009]

Sun, Red Moon

2011-06-15T17:49:00.000-07:00

The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. [Joel 2:31]

In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
I will show wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ [Acts 2:17-21]

Does God Speak To Us Today?

2011-05-08T06:04:00.000-07:00

My Conversation with God
by Anonymous

I had no idea what God would do when I asked him to use me.

Does God still speak? I grew up hearing testimonies about it, but until October 2005, I couldn't say it had ever happened to me. I'm a middle-aged professor of theology at a well-known Christian university. I've written award-winning books. My name is on Christianity Today's masthead. For years I've taught that God still speaks, but I couldn't testify to it personally. I can only do so now anonymously, for reasons I hope will be clear.

A year after hearing God's voice, I still can't talk or even think about my conversation with God without being overcome with emotion. That's one reason I know it was real; I'm not a person who shows emotion easily. Plus, I'm a skeptic about things supernatural. Not that I don't believe they can happen; I just doubt most miracle stories except the ones in the Bible. I've even been known to criticize publicly what I consider to be overly experiential forms of Christianity. I suppose that makes this story especially ironic.

Meeting the Twins

About five years ago, my wife and I visited an elderly and very sick man who had once been our pastor. We discovered that he and his wife lived not far from us, and we renewed our old acquaintance. During one of our first visits, the man's grandsons—14-year-old twins—came for a visit. The moment I met them, an inner voice told me that some day I would play a role in one of their lives. I brushed it off as a "brain hiccup" and thought little more of it. During the next five years, we drew closer to that family and got to know the twins well. Gradually, one of them shared with us his call to the ministry of music. When the twins were 17, they and their parents visited us and toured the campus where I teach. The one called to music ministry was immediately struck with the impression he was to attend this particular university and none other. Over the next year, it became clearer to us that he was very serious. As far as I could tell, it had nothing to do with the fact that I teach there; he was following an inner tug of divine guidance. But my university is expensive, and his family is of modest means. During his senior year of high school, he applied for scholarships, but the results were not encouraging. Still, his enthusiasm for studying for ministry at this university didn't flag. I felt a strong burden to help him, but contrary to popular perception, Christian university professors are not prosperous. And my book royalties had never added up to any large amounts.

The Voice

One bright and beautiful morning in October 2005, I went out alone, walking and praying. I began to cry out to God for my young friend. "Oh, God, please use me to make it possible for him to go to this university!" I don't know what I expected to happen, but I committed to letting God use me however he wanted to on this young man's behalf. The next week, I was at the same spot in my morning exercise when something amazing happened. Out of the blue, a book title came to me. It was so clever I knew two things instantly: It wasn't mine, and it would sell. Then, in almost the same instant, the entire outline of the book was there in my mind. Every chapter and its title. No discursive thought preceded it. I immediately went home and began writing. As I wrote, I had the distinct feeling that this was not me. I had never written like this before. The words poured out. Two weeks later, a 200-page manuscript sat on my desk. I knew it was good. But what to do with it? I had never before written a book without a contract. As I sat and looked at the printed pages, the name of a well-known Christian book publisher suddenly came to mind. I had never dealt with the company before, but I had met the chief editor at professional society meetings. I felt directed to contact him, even though I knew the publisher's procedure for considering book proposals and manuscripts was quite different and more complicated. I sent my acquaintance an e-mail message containing the title and the outline. A day later, I received an encouraging response; he wanted to read the manuscript. So I sent it to him. Within weeks, I had a contract; it required only a little tweaking of two or three brief portions of the manuscript. While talking to the editor assigned to this project, I discovered something astonishing. The publisher wanted to pay me a handsome royalty in advance for the book. It was approximately ten times anything I had ever received up-front before. I felt like I had won the lottery! Later, I took another brisk walk through my neighborhood. My mind was concentrating on the financial windfall and how to use it. Coincidentally, the estimated cost of my house's much-needed roof replacement was the same as the royalty advance paid by my new publisher. The answer seemed clear—a new roof.

Then God spoke: "It's not your money."

Those were the first words of a conversation that lasted on and off for several days. Knowing instantly it wasn't a "brain hiccup" but something more real and serious, I asked, "What do you mean it's not my money?" My tone was resentful and defensive. It's not your money. It's his." The voice inside my head was as real as if it were audible. I knew with terrifying certainty it wasn't my imagination, because I didn't want to hear it.

"Whose?" I asked.

The voice named the young man for whom I had been praying only a few weeks earlier. "It's for him to go to the university and study for the ministry."

"All of it?"

"That and the rest."

I knew "the rest" meant any further royalties the book might earn after it was published. Absolutely flabbergasted, I raised my fist in the air and asked aloud, "What about my roof?"

The voice said, "I'll take care of your roof, if you'll be obedient."

Then I said, "If you want to use me to help him go to the university, why not give me everything it will cost? Why this amount that will make a difference but not pay his whole way?"

"Others have to be obedient, too," I heard in reply.

When I arrived home, I shared the conversation with my wife, who had been looking forward to a roof that wouldn't leak. I couldn't talk about it without sobbing almost uncontrollably. I was shaking with emotion. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before. My wife is more spiritual than I am. She immediately agreed; we would wait for a new roof.

Confirming the Call

Over the next few months, I sent letters and e-mails and made phone calls about my young friend and his financial needs. I felt driven and couldn't stop talking about him. Because the university's deadline for need-based financial aid had passed without him or his parents applying, it looked like he would have to live with us to save money. But this would violate campus policy for first-year students, who are required to live in dorms. I sent an e-mail to the dean of student development, almost begging him to make an exception.

A couple weeks later, I received an e-mail back from the dean, saying the university was awarding him a very large scholarship that would more than cover his room and board. Soon a foundation kicked in $2,000. Then two more scholarships came. It became apparent that God was working miracles through several people.

During this time, I wondered whether I should tell my young friend anything. Something inside urged me to. One early afternoon in April, I drove to his house and took him out for dinner. We talked about the call to ministry and the commitment it requires. I was convinced again that he was truly called and destined to be used by God in great ways. So I shared with him my conversation with God and told him the source of the funds that would make it possible for him to attend my university; I explained the origin of the book and the role it would play in his education.

Clearly this was something he had needed to hear; he became choked up as he shared with me his own struggles and doubts. Others in his church youth group had received prophetic messages about their future ministries, but he had not. My story confirmed his call. Today, my young friend is living in a residence hall and taking courses, including courses in preparation for music ministry.

'To Be Used of God …'

Does God still speak today? I know he does.

So what does all this mean? I'm a theologian, and I should know. But I can't spin out a fancy theological formula for God's guidance and provision. What I know is that God spoke to me and used a gift he had already given me to provide for a young man being called into his service. It all started when I said, "God, please use me!"

I wonder how many times I've passed up an opportunity to be used in such a way. I'm reminded of an old "camp chorus" from the 1960s: "To be used of God to speak, to sing, to pray. To be used of God to show someone the way. I want so much to feel the touch of his consuming fire. To be used of God is my desire."

I used to sing those words with passion as a teenager, but I was never sure God answered my sung prayer. All it took was a specific need and a specific plea combined with the determination to be obedient. I don't know if it always works that way, but it did this time for me and my young friend.

So what has this done for me? Probably more than for the young man bound for ministry. We now have a new roof, for one thing, which came under circumstances that can only be described as oddly providential—but that's another story. More importantly, my faith in a living, personal, loving, and providing God has been renewed and deepened.

Now I know, more than intellectually, that God still speaks.

Source: CT

Damascus, Syria

2011-05-07T07:22:00.000-07:00

Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered.

The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength. [Book of Acts 9:1-19]

Royal Wedding

2011-04-29T06:14:00.000-07:00

“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

“For many are invited, but few are chosen.” [Gospel of Matthew 22: 1-14]

Save the Children

2011-04-26T09:06:00.000-07:00

No one knows what actually happened to finally force Ethiopian government to clampdown on international adoption. No one can tell if details of scams that have been going on since the late-1990s will ever come to light. Is it ok to be part of a scam in order to do some good? Does the end ever justify the means? Unfortunately, those who dispense information are the same ones with a stake in the adoption ‘business’ now busy sanitizing their side of the story. Having endured emotional and financial hardships, adoptive parents would be defensive and not easily swayed to want to undergo another round of scrutiny. Much is at stake; above all, at stake is hopes and dreams of a motherless child and a mother without a child.

Several factors have come into play to result in what appears an interminable problem in Ethiopian adoptions. First, numerous agencies are authorized to deal with children with little or no coordination among themselves. There are agencies for Civil Societies; for Women, Children, and Youth; for Social Affairs; and for Justice. In just few years, the number of orphanages has mushroomed to over 200 – many below acceptable level of operation with little to moderate oversight. Orphanages are run like cottage industries and the intense competition for funds often meant finding that one "beautiful" child. The gap within governmental agencies has virtually granted free rein to local and foreign recruiters. Children lured to Addis Ababa from rural areas are often cleared for adoption on the grounds that they were ‘found’ unattended. The ‘find’ is followed up with forged documents, cash payments and false promises that adoptee will return after completing their education. Zahara’s birth mother resurfaced after Angelina Jolie adopted the child. A little later, someone came up with a new version to the story that the child was conceived in rape. And then there was the allegation that Angelina “was lied to”. Is Angelina or her contacts incapable of lying? Was the birth mother “lied to”? How much money was involved to negotiate the turns and the twists?
Attempts to point out systemic flaws over the past decade have been effectively drowned out by more aggressive agencies and their public relations outfit. It appears the issue is finally out in the open. Local witnesses and international surveys continue to confirm descent into the quicksand of corrupt practices. In the absence of proper oversight and clear and enforceable accountability structure, measures by the government have simply failed to make a dent. Where corruption is rampant rules will also be routinely broken. No wonder, Ethiopia is the preferred destination for adoption consequent to the short duration and the low cost. [It is a lot cheaper to adopt Ethiopian child than Peruvian, Chinese, or Russian.] Alas, this has now produced a new image of Ethiopia [in addition to those of famine and conflicts] as the orphan capital of the world. “Dinner fundraiser slated to help Ethiopian orphans” read a recent headline.
It is universally agreed that only a radical measure could even begin to slow let alone arrest a process made worse by illegal and nontransparent activity. The good thing is that Ethiopian and US governments have come to recognize the gravity of the situation and are calling for urgent action. Ethiopia has now ordered a moratorium of sorts on adoptions. Some agencies are crying foul. One look, however, at executive pay for adoption agency owners [often run by families and relatives] would explain the reason for such a relentless uproar! Temporary measures may be in order but it would be the height of hypocrisy if that advised a return to the status quo.

It is unfortunate that, in the name of defenseless children, gullible parents and often in the name of Christ, adoption has turned into a racket. Obviously, there are those who will differ with our assessment that the situation has not gone this bad. We will concede there is an element of truth in such assertions. We will even go further to not make a blanket statement and acknowledge that there are good [gullible, uninformed and zealous] individuals involved in this. Our concern is, first and foremost, on policy and not necessarily nitpicking individual efforts. Secondly, we are incensed by spin-meisters and agencies whose revenues will shrink in the event policy changes are made. In the world such groups inhabit the order of business is, they come first, adoptive parents come second, and adoptees come last. This is evident in how adoption is being promoted by linking it to, among others, celebrities Angelina Jolie and Madonna - two individuals not particularly model families in the biblical sense or in Ethiopian society [we’re referring to lifestyle and not to being a single parent]. Here are some rationales for putting everyone else off balance and making any who raise their voices feel guilty:

What is the alternative to seeing a child live in abject squalor?
Adoptive parents are individuals with a big heart.
Those who criticize have no sense of the gravity of the situation and should get down from their ivory tower and do something meaningful.

Did you know there are 5 million orphans needing homes? [The figure is taken at face value without ever questioning that it could be arbitrary – which it is!]

This is a temporary measure [but for how long]?

This is a problem we inherited from the previous government [are you referring to the orphanages or the children who have remained under pre-teens for three decades]?

There is a problem and we are already doing something about it – some officials have been relieved of their duties and agencies both local and expatriates have been closed.

Of course, a work of this nature is fraught with spots; you should not be expecting a flawless operation; this is a third world country!

This work has provided us with a learning experience which will be enriched by experiences of others; a progress is being made with partners such as the US.

A criminal investigation is already underway and report will be made soon.

Everyone should not be incriminated because of few bad apples.

This is a [Christian] ‘calling’.

The adoptee has a better chance to succeed with his or her adoptive parents than rotting in an orphanage! And so on.

And here is what we propose. Ethiopian adoption is no longer a local matter and, hence, any attempt to find remedies must be situated within its international context. Which aspects of The Hague Convention and UN Child Rights were violated? There is no reason why the investigation should be left to local authorities and agencies both in the source country and countries of destination. The US, Britain, Germany, Canada, France, etc, are obligated by international law to come clean, and to demand the same of source country. Defenseless children and cheated mothers and the general public are entitled to know what actually took place. Bits and pieces of information coming out more recently are implicating wives of influential personalities, advocacy groups, medical professionals and middlemen of every stripe whose sole concern, it appears, was the money-making side of the equation [see, for example, Awramba Times, vol.4, #159, p.21, in Amharic]. There is ample paper and money trail to hunt down. Someone needs to get to the bottom of it and tell the international community how $192,840,000 [for 6,428 adoptees] was disbursed! The issue, as suggested earlier, is not one that we should quietly delegate to one group; rather, it ought to be a coordinated effort of rights groups, investigative journalists, guardians/parents, etc. There will be a fierce battle because vested interests will mobilize legal professionals, PR agencies, and even church leaders to not allow the investigation to take its course and will make every effort to hide their tracks. Surely, there will be a lot of finger-pointing. We insist no cover-up should be allowed because a young illiterate and nameless mother had been cheated out of her baby and a defenseless baby is forced to learn to live the life of the motherless.

A specific time-table should be incorporated in the upcoming adoption regime to permanently put a stop to the whole operation. Should foreign adoption define Ethiopian national character? Should not Ethiopians clean up their own mess and make opportunities possible for each other? What led to safety nets breaking in the first place to create dependency of this magnitude and from foreign resources at that? Now that we hear reports of high economic growth in Ethiopia what is being done to allocate funds and prioritize issues of such urgency. Which national policies contributed to the squandering of social capital the kind of which was not seen in previous regimes? It is worth remembering here that prior to 1991 international adoption was a rarity in the country and orphan population was nowhere near current figures. How do we explain the fact that Ethiopia, compared to neighboring Sudan and Kenya, dismally failed to care for its young [not to mean the two nations have no problems of their own]? What needs to happen for instituting well-managed orphanages and foster-care locally?

We hope adoptive parents understand the situation before calling us whiners. We don’t believe we are lacking in compassion either. Compassion does have more than one face and our statement thus far is an attempt to show that face. Another way to look at our proposal would be to hypothetically reverse roles whereby Ethiopians adopt North American and European children. Would you not say the child is better off to grow close to his or her habitat? Obviously, where a person lives as an adult is a personal choice and subject to inter-country laws and not one that we have a right to dictate. Here, however, we are talking about adults making choices on behalf of children. What percentage of the $200 million will it have taken to do a better job of rectifying the present problem? May we suggest that it might be biblically sounder to enter into the world of the needy and remain engaged for the long haul than to sneak in, rescue one and run for the exit. Rescuing one [by one] takes individual effort and has its merits; addressing the structure that produced the problem, on the other hand, requires coordinating individual efforts with fundamentally different and far-reaching results. We hope the final goal of adoption is not to perpetuate the social problem but to disrupt the root causes!

In an earlier post we addressed the issue of name-changes. We will not repeat the point here. Nonetheless, we strongly suggest that for those adoptees already outside the country birth names be maintained to help identify their region, religion, and ethnicity. That should give policy planners ideas as to which items are a priority. Even more importantly, birth names will be one of the ways the child will develop a cultural frame of reference for his or her identity in a future filled with questions, doubts and, hopefully, resolution. Read More.

How Are the Dead Raised?

2011-04-23T07:33:00.000-07:00

Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.

But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. All flesh is not the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. [1 Corinthians 15; Gospel of John 20]

The Cross, The Power of God

2011-04-20T07:22:00.000-07:00

He is despised and rejected by men,
a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
and by His stripes we are healed.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.)
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless,
Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.
[Isaiah 53:3-5; John 3:16; John 15:13; Romans 3:5; Romans 4:25; Romans 5:6; Romans 5:7; Romans 8:32; Romans 8:39; 1 John 4:10; 1 Corinthians 1:18]

Ethiopia, The Bible, and Edward Ullendorff

2011-04-17T12:08:00.000-07:00

Professor Edward Ullendorff, who died on March 6 aged 91, was an authority on Ethiopia and the Bible and held the chair of Semitic Languages at the School of Oriental and African Studies (Soas) in London from 1979 to 1982.

Edward Ullendorff was born on January 25 1920 in Berlin and educated at the city's Gymnasium Graues Kloster. He taught himself Hebrew and Arabic and, from the age of 15, attended university classes in Arabic. In 1938 he went to Palestine to study Semitic languages at the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus, living in the North Talpiot neighbourhood of Jerusalem, a city which, as he recalled, was still relatively empty and stunningly beautiful. He soon, however, became aware of the huge gulf between the Arab and Jewish residents. His own days were filled with studies, visits to bookshops, music and amateur theatre, and evenings spent with neighbours debating everything from Palestinian politics to Henry VIII's wives and fluid mechanics. By contrast he recalled seeing an Arab woman giving birth by the side of the road, her husband standing by her side, idle and seemingly unconcerned. Ullendorff, horrified, ran to get medical help, but the doctor just shrugged his shoulders and smiled. When Ullendorff returned to the spot the woman, her husband and new baby were gone.

Ullendorff's studies covered the full range of Semitic languages – Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic-Syriac, Akkadian and the Ethiopic languages, which he studied under the great Egyptologist and Semitic language expert HJ Polotsky. They got on extremely well and would correspond regularly until Polotsky's death in 1991. But Ullendorff recalled that when he eventually left Jerusalem in 1948, he was advised to ask the great man for a testimonial, to which Polotsky readily agreed. The finished reference read: "Mr E Ullendorff was my pupil. I have no complaints against him."

"There were not many occasions when I needed to have recourse to this fulsome assessment of my qualifications," Ullendorff recalled – though when he showed the document to an old colleague of Polotsky's "he at once recognised the authentic Polotsky manner and thought no one could wish for a greater tribute, considering its provenance". As Ullendorff explained in his memoir The Two Zions (1988), it was the Second World War that cemented his fascination with the culture and languages of Ethiopia (Ethiopians traditionally refer to their country as "the Second Zion"). When war broke out Ullendorff was writing an MA thesis on the use of the definite article in Semitic languages. But he soon volunteered to serve in the British Army under the Mandate and, because of his knowledge of Ethiopic languages, was posted to Eritrea and Ethiopia. He served as the chief examiner in the British Censorship in Eritrea, based in Asmara, in 1942-43 and as assistant political secretary in 1945-46. During this time he founded and edited the first Tigrinya-language newspaper, the Eritrean Weekly News, and produced an illustrated magazine in Amharic. In 1943, at the municipal offices in Asmara, he married Dina Noack, who had been a neighbour in Jerusalem. Ullendorff travelled as much as he could, falling in love with the "stark and overpowering" beauty of the Ethiopian highlands and with the people – "a handsome race, elegant, subtle and nervous" but also "exceptionally intelligent, mentally agile and extraordinarily eager to learn". He was greatly impressed by Ethiopia's Emperor Haile Selassie, "whose slight figure was in marked contrast to the overpowering impact of his personality". Ullendorff would later translate Selassie's autobiography, written in Amharic, into English, and in 1972, two years before he was deposed in a revolution, the emperor conferred on him the Haile Selassie International Prize for Ethiopian Studies. In 1988 Ullendorff noted, sadly, that of the 11 people featured in the photograph of the presentation ceremony, at least six had been murdered.

After the war Ullendorff returned to Jerusalem, where he worked briefly as an administrator at the Hebrew University. There his duties included looking after an influx of foreign students (mainly former American servicemen) and the drafting of letters to referees abroad on the promotion of members of staff. When one elderly lecturer in history was put forward for promotion, one of the referees was the Oxford Reader in Jewish Studies, Cecil Roth, who sent a cryptic quotation in Hebrew which, in translation, read: "He is like a peg that is not to be removed from its place." The ensuing debate over the precise provenance and meaning of this text, Ullendorff felt, was excellent training for his later academic career. But the febrile Jerusalem of the postwar years was very different from the relatively peaceful city of the 1930s and was characterised by hostilities between the Irgun movement and the British administration, followed by a renewal of Arab-Jewish hostilities, with barbed wire barriers, body-searches, bombs, machine-gun fire and, at the university, bitter confrontations between supporters and opponents of the fighting. In 1947 Ullendorff accepted a junior position in the British Mandate administration and worked in an office in the King David Hotel dealing with financial compensation for the victims of terrorist attacks until the surrender of the Mandate in 1948. As relationships between Arabs and Jews deteriorated further, it was with some relief that Ullendorff accepted an invitation to join the Oxford Institute of Colonial Studies and moved to Britain.

At Oxford, Ullendorff resumed his interrupted studies with a doctoral thesis on "The Relationship of Modern Ethiopian Languages to Ge'ez" (an ancient Semitic language which is no longer spoken but continues in use as a liturgical language). In 1950 he was appointed lecturer in Semitic Languages at St Andrews University, later advanced to Reader. In 1959 he was appointed to a chair in Semitic Languages and Literatures at Manchester and, five years later, moved to Soas, which created a chair of Ethiopian Studies especially for him (the chair was renamed Semitic Languages in 1979). In 1982 he retired to Oxford to concentrate on his researches. The Semitic Languages of Ethiopia (1955), based on his doctoral thesis, was followed by works on the various Ethiopian languages and on the history and culture of Ethiopia, such as The Ethiopians: An Introduction to Country and People (1960), Ethiopia and the Bible (1968) and The Ethiopic Book of Enoch (1978, with MA Knibb). He edited catalogues of Ethiopian manuscript collections in the Bodleian and Cambridge University Libraries and published widely on other Semitic languages. One of his more popular publications was an essay entitled The Bawdy Bible (1977), in which he explored the Hebrew Bible's "unabashed outspokenness" on sexual matters. Ullendorff played an active role in many academic bodies, serving as chairman of the Association of British Orientalists (1963-64), president of the Society for Old Testament Study (1971) and vice-president of the Royal Asiatic Society (1975-79 and 1981-85). From 1975 to 1983 he sat on the Advisory Board of the British Library.

During his time at Manchester he was joint editor of the Journal of Semitic Studies, and in London he was chairman of the editorial board of the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies between 1968 and 1978. Among other honours, he was awarded the Imperial Ethiopian Gold Medallion in 1960 and elected a fellow of the British Academy in 1965, serving as its vice-president from 1980 to 1982. His wife survives him. Source: The Telegraph

WORKS:

• Exploration and Study of Abyssinia. A brief survey

• The Semitic Languages of Ethiopia. A Comparative Phonology (1955)

• An Amharic Chrestomathy (1965)

• The challenge of Amharic (1965) An inaugural lecture delivered on 28 October 1964

• The Ethiopians: An Introduction to Country and People (1966)

• Ethiopia and the Bible (1968) Schweich Lectures of The British Academy (1967)

• Some early Amharic letters. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 35.2:229-270. (1972)

• Autobiography of Emperor Haile Sellassie of Ethiopia (1978), translator

• The Amharic Letters Emperor Theodore of Ethiopia to Queen Victoria and Her Special Envoy (1979),

with David L. Appleyard, Girma-Selassie Asfaw

• The Hebrew Letters of Prester John (1982), with C. F. Beckingham.

• A Tigrinya Chrestomathy (1985)

• The Two Zions : Reminiscences of Jerusalem and Ethiopia (1989)

• From Emperor Haile Selassie to H. J. Polotsky Collected Papers IV: An Ethiopian and Semitic Miscellany

• From the Bible to Enrico Cerulli A Miscellany of Ethiopian and Semitic Papers

• Hebraic- Jewish Elements in Abyssinian (Monophysite) Christianity (1956)

Lent

2011-04-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a reprint of a previous post on Lent. God bless you.

The Testimony

2011-04-12T07:54:00.000-07:00

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and[b] is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. …

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.” The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter). The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

Jesus said, “You believe[h] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you,[i] you[j] will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’[k] the Son of Man.”

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

John,

To the seven churches in the province of Asia:

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits[a] before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

“Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man,[d] dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

“Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels[e] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. [John 1; 1 John 1; Revelation 1]

Another Adoption Fraud

2011-04-09T06:43:00.000-07:00

Directors charged with defrauding adoption agency of $420,000
Source: The Globe and Mail

The founder and general manager of an international adoption agency are accused of defrauding the agency of hundreds of thousands of dollars almost two years after trustees first found “questionable” spending in its records. Cambridge, Ont.-based Imagine Adoption, which matched up Canadians with orphans from Ghana and Ethiopia, declared bankruptcy in July, 2009, leaving hundreds of families in adoption limbo. Now, the agency’s founder, Susan Hayhow, and its general manager, Rick Hayhow, are charged with breach of trust and multiple counts of fraud, totalling more than $420,000.

Police allege the frauds took place between January, 2007 and the agency’s bankruptcy declaration. During that time, police say, money paid for adoption services was spent on international vacations, renovations to the couple’s shared home in Cambridge, food and clothing. The charges are cold comfort to the families, many of whom have moved on or tried to adopt through other avenues. But it raises questions about how an agency involved in the increasingly lucrative business of international adoptions, whose license was renewed multiple times by the Ontario government, could have operated for so long with its financial irregularities unnoticed. International adoption has become a multi-billion-dollar global industry; children’s advocates argue it’s under-regulated and ripe for abuse. More here.

Egypt and Ethiopia: Mixing Religion and Politics?

2011-04-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

Almasry Alyoum in its 3 April 2011 edition seemed eager to divert the “Nile water crisis” to the courtyards of the church. “Egyptian and Ethiopian churches discuss Nile water crisis” run the headline. How deep should the church be wading in troubled waters? Would such involvement get in the way of the church’s primary responsibility to point people to the Living Water, even our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?

Ethiopia and Egypt have had ties spanning centuries; or time immemorial, depending on whether you start with Christian history or the Blue Nile River. Egypt, we forget at our own peril, was once majority Christian. As recent as four centuries ago more than 40% of Egypt was Christian. Compare that to 11% at present and, considering persecution and out migration, you begin to understand why and how societies change. Ethiopia, on the other hand, has remained majority Christian due in part to initial theological contributions of Egypt.

Since Creation, the Blue Nile has provided sustenance to the people of Egypt. Today, majority Egyptians live on the Nile Delta where the Blue Nile continues to cut through a gorge of pain and beauty to deliver without fail dark-rich soil from rain-drenched highlands of Ethiopia. Egyptians have worried that such power in the hands of “Christian” Ethiopia could destabilize their economy and security. There was even talk in ancient times that the Highlander could poison the river and wreak havoc on Egyptians. Of course, that was all a lie. It never happened nor was it ever contemplated – or even practicable. But that did not stop the lie from being passed on from one generation to the next. This also explains why Egyptian governments consistently sided with groups that threatened the stability of Ethiopia. In the end, Egyptian leaders have used fear to unite the public and divert attention from persisting maladministration while benefitting from unilaterally ill-designed agreement orchestrated by British colonial administration in the past century.

Another item to remember is that Coptic Orthodox Church was the Mother Church of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The first Ethiopian bishop, Aba Salama, was appointed in 330 A.D. by none other than the Church Father Athanasius of Alexandria himself [c. 296 to 373]. Until the 1950s the Metropolitan for the Ethiopian Church was Egyptian. The practice had to come to an end following Italian invasion of Ethiopia in the 1930s due to the Egyptian cleric’s attempt to pacify Ethiopians to not resist the enemy. Consequent to the invasion, Emperor Haileselassie went into exile and upon his return declared independence for the Ethiopian Church; the first Ethiopian Patriarch, Abuna Basliwos, was inaugurated in 1959. There is currently emerging ‘crisis’ between Ethiopia and Egypt over the equitable use of Nile waters. Ethiopia wants to build a dam and generate power for the development of the nation; Egypt is concerned activities of this magnitude could have negative impact down stream. And now Pope Shenouda III [of the Coptic Egyptian Church] is “communicating with the Ethiopian church in an effort to help resolve the water crisis.” This is an interesting development and goes to show intentions of the Egyptian government to use all available means to achieve its goals. What is interesting is that Coptic Christians are essentially relegated to second-class citizens and persecuted.

The late-president Sadat had personal dislike for Abuna Shenouda for, among others, publicizing the mistreatment his flock was receiving at the hands of Islamic groups. In 1981, Sadat went further to depose Shenouda in contravention of church polity and international law and exile him to a monastery in Western Egypt; a month later, Sadat was assassinated by members of the same Islamist group. It is also to be recalled that around Christmas 2010 many Coptic Christians were massacred as the recently deposed government of Mubarak stood by and watched. Pope Shenouda now says he would like to intervene in the crisis “for the sake of Egypt’s security” which makes us wonder if this isn’t a political move to find favor with the progressively alienating political leadership than any thing else. Be that as it may, the Pope wants to see the Ethiopian church “convince” her government to not go ahead with dam construction within its borders.

So, on what grounds could the Ethiopian church play the role of mediator? First, such overtures assume the Ethiopian church is an independent entity, which she is not. Talk of separation of church and state is only a constitutional formula meant for the uninitiated and the politically agile. Secondly, the Pope’s expectation is untenable in that it assumes the Ethiopian church will somehow risk what amounted to taking Egyptian side in the crisis. The Ethiopian church has for all purposes not once raised her voice against government excesses locally over the past two decades and to assume it will now is simply absurd!

Pope Shenouda, who was born in 1923, is one acquainted with the ups and downs of relations between Egypt and Ethiopia; we won’t go into all that at the moment. One thing we could not help but mention is Pope Shenouda’s stand in 1974 against the then military government in Ethiopia and its interference in the affairs of the church. After seizing power, the military government moved to depose and murder the second patriarch of Ethiopia, Abuna Tewofilos, because the patriarch had showed deep concern over the illegal killings of national leaders and emergent state atheism, as well as requested remains of Emperor Haileselassie in order to hold a public memorial service. Abuna Tekle Haymanot was subsequently handpicked as successor who Pope Shenouda refused [rightly, we might add] to recognize. Formal relations between the two churches were only resurrected in 2007. What is surprising is that His Holiness Abuna Shenouda hardly said a word when the current head of the Ethiopian church was “favored” by Ethiopia’s new rulers. One thing needs to be underscored here despite the impracticability of the proposal to find a role for the church in the water crisis. And that is, the initiative the Pope and [his flock] have taken to stand with their Muslim countrymen and women in Tahrir Square soon after the massacre visited upon them in their own church during the most peaceful season of the Christian calendar. What’s even more striking is that Coptic Christians are willing “for the sake of Egypt’s security” to seek ways of securing their nation – a nation that has yet to find the will to secure its own citizens who happened to be Christian.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. [Matthew 5:9-12]

Heaven is For Real

2011-03-31T11:08:00.000-07:00

Heaven is for real. Jesus said so!

Heaven Is For Real is the story of a visit supposedly to heaven of a 3-year-old [some accounts say 4-year-old] eight years ago as told to his dad. The book is now at No.1 on The New York Times paperback bestseller list. The widespread appeal could be attributed to two potent combinations of events. One, it is an evidence of how hungry men and women are for the transcendent. Two, this is a story [and stories do wield uncanny power over us] and the fact that the story is told by a 3-year-old [representing for us a yeaning to regain a lost innocence]. Add to this the workings of the book publishing world, advertizing agencies, and all the tubes and webs you can think of – all diligently demanding their share of this newest of phenomena and you get a glimpse of what is going on.

This and similar books could serve as a good diversion from economic uncertainties and social and natural upheavals coming at us from every corner of the planet. Likewise, they could create the opportunity for presenting the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. They could also lead to the trivialization of the subject matter.

In 1989 Don Piper was involved in an accident that left him dead for 90 minutes. Fifteen years later he wrote 90 Minutes In Heaven recounting that during the 90-minute absence he was in fact “experiencing heaven”. And then there is Heaven Is So Real [2003] by Choo Thomas. Choo says her book “is our Lord Jesus’ end time book." We thought the book of Revelation was the end time book [read Revelation 1:19; 22:18-19]. She continues, "He only used my body to write this book. He wants all believers and unbelievers to read it and prepare for His coming. He said, He is letting people know what it takes to enter His Kingdom, through this book. … The Lord himself took me to heaven 17 different times, in my transformed spirit body, at an age of about 15 to 16 years old and showed me countless things in heaven that He has prepared for His people, and showed me hell twice.” More here.

Finally, Mitch Albom’s The Five People You Meet in Heaven [2003] was written about an 83-year-old Eddie who finds himself in heaven having died while attempting to save a small girl from danger. Mitch’s story is meant to inspire, among other things, that no life is a waste.

It appears book editors are disposed to using the “heaven” card more and more to move book sales. A Slice of Heaven: The Ultimate Pizza Guide [2010] by Levine, Ephron, and Blount. Almost Heaven [2000] by McNaught. Heaven: Our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife [2010] by Miller and The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears [2007] by our very own Dinaw Mengestu. In the end, not all that sounds heaven is real heaven! And heaven where Jesus is not prefigured is simply a product of human imagination and no heaven at all.

We know Heaven is real because Jesus said so! The indwelling Holy Spirit whom Jesus sent after ascending to Heaven and his apostles confirm its reality. It is that Spirit-tug on the heart that confers a knowing that one is truly and undeservedly loved and that Jesus is both the initiator and sustainer of that love.

Let us for a moment move away from “experiences” and speculations and make three observations. There is a tendency on the part of some to want to construct their own personal “heaven”. Secondly, our understanding of heaven is/ought to be anchored on the life and teachings of Jesus and his apostles and thirdly, there is an instance in scripture where the apostle Paul recounts he was indeed “caught up to the third heaven” where “he heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. …But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say.” [2 Corinthians 12: 2-6; italics added].
More scripture here:

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written:

“No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love him”—

but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.c The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:

“For who has known the mind of the Lord

that he may instruct him?”

But we have the mind of Christ. [1 Corinthians 2]

Some more here:

I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. [John 3:11-13]

For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. [John 6:33]

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. [John 14:1-3]

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say. Paul in [2 Corinthians 12:2-6]

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. [2 Corinthians 5:1]

After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. [Mark 16:19]

"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." [Acts 1:11]

When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. [Luke 24:50-52]

For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. [Hebrews 9:24]

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. [Philippians 3:20-21]

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. [2 Timothy 4:7-8]

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. [1 Thessalonians 4:16]

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent as glass.

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. Revelation 21

What Happened to Heaven?

2011-03-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

What Happened to Heaven and Is Gandhi There?

Source: WSJ

Something strange has happened in evangelical churches over the past generation. Not in every congregation, but in the main, sermons devoted to the grim prospect of hell have become rare, and even talk of heaven is muted.

Many have noted this development without making much impact. Along comes Rob Bell, founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan. His "Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived" is now ranked No. 8 on Amazon.com, and it has been generating controversy since before its release earlier this week.

"There are a growing number of us," Mr. Bell writes on the first page—"millions"—"who have become acutely aware that Jesus's story has been hijacked by a number of other stories, stories Jesus isn't interested in telling. . . . A staggering number of people have been taught that a select few Christians will spend forever in a peaceful, joyous place called heaven, while the rest of humanity spends forever in torment and punishment in hell." Presumably this disquiet accounts for the reticence of many evangelicals when it comes to the afterlife.

So is Mr. Bell one more Christian liberal describing God as a mountain you can climb any way you want? Not exactly.

I first heard him preach in 1999, soon after he founded Mars Hill. The service consisted of about 20 minutes of music and then a sermon that lasted 70 minutes. I'd heard Mars Hill described as one of the so-called "seeker churches," disdained by some for softening the gospel to get people in the door.

Really? With sermons lasting 70 minutes? And about Leviticus? You could go to many evangelical churches every week for 10 years and never hear a single sermon on Leviticus. Mr. Bell—then still in his late 20s—talked about God's judgment in a way I'd not encountered.

His book, in other words, didn't come out of nowhere. It seems the measured culmination of his work as pastor and teacher.

Why, then, the bitter controversy? Consider this: In a promotional video about the book, Mr. Bell asks, "Gandhi's in hell? He is?" And: "Will billions and billions of people burn forever in hell? And if that's the case how do you become one of the few?"

Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a leading conservative evangelical, wrote that in the video Mr. Bell "affirms what can only be described as universalism," the belief that ultimately all people are "saved." Most evangelicals find this position incompatible with scripture.

But anyone who carefully reads "Love Wins" will see that Mr. Bell is not a universalist. As C.S. Lewis did, he suggests that God grants free will to all, including those who do not want his divine company and therefore choose damnation.

Still, the account of heaven and hell that he rejects does sound a lot like what most Christians have taught and been taught for 2,000 years, with some modifications. The notion that heaven is the preserve of "a few select Christians" has never been normative. Though all too many Christians have strayed into that error over the centuries, most have not presumed to speculate about how crowded (or uncrowded) heaven will be. God is both perfectly merciful and perfectly just.

Mr. Bell's book is provoking an overdue conversation. Evangelicals—those who agree or disagree with him, and those like me who find much to praise and much to criticize—will find it worth engaging. And perhaps some who observe Christianity from the outside, whether warily or with a friendly spirit, will want to listen in.

Japan Earthquake

2011-03-16T06:45:00.000-07:00

15,000 are feared dead or unaccounted for and 300,000 left homeless. Just like that. A devastating earthquake and then a tsunami. A massive body of water removing, engulfing and tossing about any object in its path; it appeared the edifices we thought were unshakeable had no chance against the forces that were unleashed. Here are few scriptures to help us articulate prayers of need and hope. Ed.

The seas have lifted up, O LORD, the seas have lifted up their voice; the seas have lifted up their pounding waves. Psalm 93:3

The mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high. Habakkuk 3:10
As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more. Psalm 103:15-16
Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12
Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days;
let me know how fleeting is my life. Psalm 39:4
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.[c]
“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:1-3,10
PRAY FOR JAPAN.

Doing the Right Thing the Wrong Way

2011-03-15T09:23:00.000-07:00

The recent outcry over violence against Christians in Jimma region of southwestern Ethiopia is an object lesson on the danger of doing the right thing the wrong way.

Clashes in Ethiopia are not new phenomena and have persisted for centuries [with varying intensity, of course] the most memorable of which was the one that Ahmad Gran (born c. 1506—died 1543) visited upon our nation. A sense of history is what we need in times like this to not overstate documentation of events. Joined to this is the attempt on the part of some to suggest an idyllic environment existed between [Orthodox] Christians and Muslims until Protestant Christians came along.

That there is a culture of relative tolerance between Christians and Muslims is a fact of life. However, that should not preclude the reality and importance of fundamental differences, the knowledge of which could increase mutual understanding and respect for the other. The first enemy to be subdued is, therefore, ignorance itself!

And so the first week in March we had church burning and dislocation of Christians by the hundreds with one death confirmed so far. What is concerning about these clashes is that a clear and worrying pattern has emerged in that little or no preparation was made before or after such events. No violence happens out of the blue. There is always a period of building tension often based on hearsay, accusations and counter-accusations, innuendos, first between individuals and later within the larger community which finally is triggered by a seemingly ‘minor’ incident. The unfortunate thing is that government action always came after damage has been done, followed by a promise to apprehend and bring the perpetrators to justice. In other words, the Ethiopian government needs to do more than it promises!

Secondly, no two eyewitnesses will report exactly the same way. What is disconcerting is not the fact that reports have minor variations but that, in this case, some tended to promote a hidden agenda. These, it appears, are on a quest for confirmation of their preconceived notions, to cover-up ignorance or, in few cases, to present themselves as ‘experts’ on matters pertaining to religious conflicts [the absence of which could mean unemployment or less funds]. In cases like these, a little exaggeration always helped to get a point across. One report said, “The country known for food shortages and famine is now at a boiling point for Muslim/Christian violence.” Is Ethiopia really “at a boiling point?” The whole country? We don’t think so! Another ‘expert’ bent over backwards to link the group inciting the present violence to Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and/or to 7th century Medina! Few more made inflammatory comments that do not help bring matters under control.

Thirdly, politicizing the conflict may be expedient in the short-term but could amount to sowing the wind only to reap the whirlwind. Let us remember that we live in the age of instant communication where every jot and tittle once inscribed in space has a way of reinventing itself and remaining lodged as a thorn in the body politic. Careless comments come with a price. Those who pay a hefty price for political expediency and poor judgment may not be the same ones who initiate us along those slippery paths. The fact that protestant Christians are viewed as ‘foreign’ has direct correlation to the way missionaries have continued to operate in Ethiopia. We will not go into naming individuals and groups that actually presented Muslim violence as extension of political cleavage and partisanship in the US. To score political points at a time of great distress to believers is not only a disgrace to the gospel of Christ but also a hindrance to its propagation and to the world wide mission of the church. Likewise, the Ethiopian government has tried to paint the present predicament as part and parcel of a terrorist network originating in Yemen and extending to Djibouti, Eritrea, and Somalia and to the locus of the present conflict in Ethiopia. We believe the statement was made to divert attention from recurring failures to protect Christian communities and to circumvent the sentiment that Ethiopia will not be spared growing popular resentment flooding North Africa and the Middle East.

One disturbing thing is the [mis-]use of the Constitution. It is true that the Ethiopian Constitution makes provisions in regard to rights to exercise one’s religion and to propagate it without coercion. It is also true that in a society where illiteracy, ethnicity and religion hold sway and where human rights and democratic sensibilities are at best faint the manner of exercising those rights could mean not recognizing certain boundaries. Rights are preferred to fulfilling one’s duties and responsibilities. Our observation of YouTube, discussion forums and blog posts does seem to confirm that more than likely a remark and an uninformed zeal by Christian workers could have precipitated the conflict. Similar feelings are now routinely broadcast by marginal groups within the Orthodox and Protestant communuities.

We acknowledge that in the world there is bound to be persecution for the sake of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. But then we are also instructed to be gentle and wise because the ultimate objective is to build relationships and in so doing make the message of hope and forgiveness deliverable. Jesus never denigrated anyone and never failed to shine upon those He met his liberating love. He consistently pronounced the consequences of sin and offered a way out. He is the Way; He is the only Way. He lived and taught this; we believe Him and, by His grace, we follow in His footsteps no matter the cost. In Christ the message and the messenger are one and the same. That is why we need to fervently pray for grace, wisdom and the power of the Holy Spirit even as we strive to fulfill the Great Commission.

We’ve noticed fundraising campaign is underway to aid dislocated communities. That indeed is a Christian thing to do. One troubling observation, however, is the ease with which some organizations fail to be transparent and the fact those funds are fungible. Outside intervention is good but intervention by locals is much better. Strengthening local leadership and resource sharing should take precedence over help from expatriate groups. Let us not forget that generosity is stronger among poor communities!! We would advise our Christian brothers and sisters hailing from North America and Europe [with denominational strategies, views, and goals] to not dictate to or takeover local leadership but instead to quietly and humbly provide a supportive role and in as much as possible to remain in the background. In the meantime, local Christian workers should not simply rehash imported “strategies” but rather to train in methods that are respectful of local cultures and mores! Finally, Muslims, too, are Ethiopian.

Non-profit Adoption?

2011-03-10T14:08:00.000-08:00

Adoption Slowdown in Ethiopia Mobilizes All God's Children International [AGCI]

The recent plan by the Ethiopian government to slow international adoption by 90% has triggered a call to action by All God's Children International (AGCI), the Portland based non-profit adoption and orphan care agency. Working with the Joint Council on International Children's Services, AGCI is encouraging everyone who cares about the welfare of children to sign the online petition. More here.

Few facts about ACGI: here here [scroll to page 8] here and here

Previous blog post here.

Attack on Ethiopian Christians Continues

2011-03-06T11:12:00.000-08:00

[UPDATE] The total of churches burned down so far have risen to 41 [28 of which are Kale Heywet churches]. Over 2,000 people have been displaced and are in shelters in Ako, Jimma, Dimtu and Derbo. The Evangelical Churches Fellowship reported the incidence to government officials but little action has been taken to stop the violence. The fundamentalist crowd is estimated at 10,000. Local police are standing by watching and not fulfilling their duties. More here.

Attack on Ethiopian Christians

2011-03-05T08:15:00.000-08:00

Below is news we received from Ethiopia of militant Islamic groups attacking Christians and burning down churches. We have withheld names to protect their identity. Ed.

[BEGIN] Islamic groups attack Ethiopian Christians

After a four-year break, Muslim fundamentalists are once again attacking Christians in Jimma region, 300km west of the capital Addis Ababa. The attack took place in different locations starting 2 March 2011. According to local church leaders, several churches and Christian homes have been burned down.

Location and number of Churches burned: Asendabo - 3; Chiltie - 1; Gilgel Gibe - 1; Nada - 4; Dimtu - 2; Uragay - 1; Busa - 1; Koticha - 1. [total: 14]

Name and number of evangelical churches attacked are as follows:
Ethiopian Kale Heywet church - 8; Mekane Yesus - 2; Muluwengel - 2; and Adventist - 1.

Over 35 Christian homes have also been burned down in broad daylight and families displaced to the backwoods. Church leaders reported that children and women are greatly affected by the aggression. Estimates are over 1000 people are now homeless and dependent on relief aid. As we prepare this report more attacks are taking place in nearby communities.

We request Christian brothers and sisters to pray for the churches and for Muslims involved in the violence. END

Is Adoption a Temptation?

2011-03-04T13:57:00.000-08:00

Ethiopia to Cut Foreign Adoptions by Up to 90 Percent
Source: VOA

Ethiopia is cutting back by as much as 90 percent the number of inter-country adoptions it will allow, as part of an effort to clean up a system rife with fraud and corruption. Adoption agencies and children’s advocates are concerned the cutbacks will leave many Ethiopian orphans without the last-resort option of an adoptive home abroad. Ethiopia’s Ministry of Women’s, Children’s and Youth Affairs has issued a directive saying it will process a maximum of five inter-country adoptions a day, effective March 10. Currently, the ministry is processing up to 50 cases a day, about half of them to the United States.

A copy of the directive provided to VOA says the reduction of up to 90 percent in cases will allow closer scrutiny of documents used to verify a child’s orphan status. Ministry spokesman Abiy Ephrem says the action was taken in response to indications of widespread fraud in the adoption process. "What we have seen so far has been some illegal practices. There is an abuse. There are some cases that are illegal. So these directives will pave the way to come up with [safeguards]," said Abiy Ephrem.

Investigations have turned up evidence of unscrupulous operators in some cases tricking Ethiopian parents to give up their children, then falsifying documents in order claim a part of the large fees involved in inter country adoptions. American couples often pay more than $20,000 to adopt an Ethiopian child. Such amounts are an enormous temptation in a country where the average family earns a few hundred dollars a month.

U.S. State Department statistics show more than 2,500 Ethiopian orphans went to the United States last year. That is more than a ten fold increase over the past few years, making Ethiopia the second most popular destination for Americans seeking to adopt overseas, after China. Child protection professionals generally welcomed efforts to clean up the system. Some, however, questioned the motive behind the cutback. One adoption agency representative who asked not to be identified called the policy "ridiculous", and said it appears to be in retaliation for recent criticism of the government’s lax oversight of the process.

Abigail Rupp, head of the consular section at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa says the cutback is likely to result in a drop in adoptions to the United States from last year’s 2,500 to fewer than 500. She says the biggest concern is for the estimated 1,000 children currently in the adoptions pipeline, who may be forced to wait more than a year for their cases to be considered.

"We share the government’s concerns about the vulnerabilities in the process. But certainly we have concerns about children who would be waiting longer for their adoptions to be final. That would mean they would be in an orphanage or transition home for a longer period of time," she said. Rupp said adoption agencies in Ethiopia should take the directive as a cue to be accountable for each case they bring forward, including knowing exactly how children in orphanages came to be there. She said government officials have indicated they may close as many as 45 orphanages as part of the effort to clean up what critics have labeled a “baby business”.

Ted Chaiban, head of the Addis Ababa office of the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF, called the new rules “an important step” in rooting out irregularities in the system and finding family-based local solutions for what the government estimates are 5 million Ethiopian orphans. "What is important is that any child deemed to require care be looked at in terms of a range of options starting from family reunification all the way through inter country adoption. In that respect the work being done by the ministry needs to be strengthened and supported," he said.

U.S. Embassy officials late Friday indicated they are posting an adoption alert on the State Department’s website addressing the concerns of Americans who will be affected by the Ethiopian government directive. The alert can be seen at http://www.adoptions.state.gov/. More here.

The Samaritan and the Purse

2011-02-25T07:52:00.000-08:00

Afrik-News [AN] reported late last week that the license of the Samaritan's Purse [SP] in Ethiopia was revoked because the organization failed to adhere to local laws. The government of Ethiopia has accused SP of bringing "14 foreign workers into Ethiopia and employed them for three years without work permits or residence permits ...employees did not pay over 7 million Ethiopian Birr [USD 420,000] in taxes to the country." According to AN three other non-governmental organizations [Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association, Ethiopian Human Rights Council, and Mobility without Barriers] were also closed down on similar charges. Our concern is largely with issues surrounding SP because it is a decidedly evangelical and a credible organization; our viewers would like to hear SP's side of the story. See previous post here.

Ethiopia Adoption Alert

2011-02-10T13:57:00.000-08:00

Ethiopia Adoption Alert
Adoption Alert

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Office of Children’s Issues

February 8, 2011

On December 9, 2010, the Government of Ethiopia revoked the Better Futures Adoption Services’ registration to operate in Ethiopia because of the organization’s misuse of its license in activities concerning the welfare of children.

The U.S. Embassy strongly recommends that prospective adoptive parents who have entered into an agreement with Better Futures Adoption Services, or who are planning to adopt through Better Futures Adoption Services, seek the advice of a legal professional.

The Embassy's Adoptions Unit can be reached at consadoptionaddis@state.gov.

Please continue to monitor http://adoption.state.gov/ for updated information as it becomes available.

Better Futures Revocation of License - Amharic Translation
Better Futures Revocation of License - English Translation

Billy Graham

2011-01-24T06:27:00.000-08:00

Q & A: Billy Graham on Aging, Regrets, and Evangelicals
The evangelist says he "sometimes crossed the line" in politics, "old age can be a lonely time," and warns evangelicals of being "victims of our own success."
Source: Christianity Today

Even through he struggles with his hearing, sight, and other health issues in his ninth decade, Billy Graham continued to do what he's done with every American President since Harry Truman. Last year, he met and prayed with President Obama and in December, he met again with former President George W. Bush. But if he could go back and do anything over again, he told Christianity Today, he would have steered clear of politics.

Since his wife's death nearly four years ago, he spends most of his time in his home in Montreat with around-the-clock care. Although he rarely appears in public, his son Franklin Graham said his father would like to preach again on video, but a date is not confirmed. CT submitted brief questions for Billy Graham to his staff by e-mail for an update on his health and a reflection on his years in ministry.

What advice would you give to people who are aging?
First, accept it as part of God's plan for your life, and thank him every day for the gift of that day. We've come to look on old age as something to be dreaded—and it's true that it isn't easy. I can't honestly say that I like being old—not being able to do most of the things I used to do, for example, and being more dependent on others, and facing physical challenges that I know will only get worse. Old age can be a lonely time also—children scattered, spouse and friends gone. But God has a reason for keeping us here (even if we don't always understand it), and we need to recover the Bible's understanding of life and longevity as gifts from God—and therefore as something good. Several times the Bible mentions people who died "at a good old age"—an interesting phrase (emphasis added). So part of my advice is to learn to be content, and that only comes as we accept each day as a gift from God and commit it into his hands. Paul's words are true at every stage of life, but especially as we grow older: "Godliness with contentment is great gain" (1 Tim. 6:6).

The other piece of advice I'd give is the other side of the coin, so to speak. It's this: As we grow older we should focus not only on the present, but more and more on Heaven. This world, with all of its pains and sorrows and burdens, isn't our final home. If we know Christ, we know we have "an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you" (1 Pet. 1:4). I know it won't be long before I'll be going there, and I look forward to that day. Heaven gives us hope, and makes our present burdens easier to bear.

What would you say to children who have aging parents?
When we're young we usually don't think much about growing old, or about our parents growing old either—not until something forces us to think about it. But it will happen, if they live long enough. So the first thing I'd say to those whose parents are growing older is to be prepared for it, and to accept whatever responsibilities it brings you. Then be patient with them. They may not be able to do everything they once did, but that doesn't mean they're necessarily helpless or incompetent. And be alert to their needs—including their emotional and spiritual needs. Sometimes they just need to know that you're there, and that you care. Be sensitive also. Occasionally I've seen children become heavy-handed and insensitive when dealing with their aging parents, and it only caused resentment and hard feelings. On the other hand, it may become necessary to step in and insist that they turn over the car keys, or let you handle their finances, or even arrange for them to move to a place where they'll get better care. They may resist, and you need to put yourself in their shoes and realize the turmoil these changes can cause them. But they need to realize that you're doing it because you love them and want what's best for them. And pray for them also, that they will experience God's peace and comfort as they grow older. Some day you'll be there also, and what you do now will be an example to your own children.

If you could, would you go back and do anything differently?
Yes, of course. I'd spend more time at home with my family, and I'd study more and preach less. I wouldn't have taken so many speaking engagements, including some of the things I did over the years that I probably didn't really need to do—weddings and funerals and building dedications, things like that. Whenever I counsel someone who feels called to be an evangelist, I always urge them to guard their time and not feel like they have to do everything. I also would have steered clear of politics. I'm grateful for the opportunities God gave me to minister to people in high places; people in power have spiritual and personal needs like everyone else, and often they have no one to talk to. But looking back I know I sometimes crossed the line, and I wouldn't do that now.

What are the most important issues facing evangelicals today?
I'm grateful for the evangelical resurgence we've seen across the world in the last half-century or so. It truly has been God's doing. It wasn't like this when I first started out, and I'm amazed at what has happened—new evangelical seminaries and organizations and churches, a new generation of leaders committed to the gospel, and so forth. But success is always dangerous, and we need to be alert and avoid becoming the victims of our own success. Will we influence the world for Christ, or will the world influence us?

But the most important issue we face today is the same the church has faced in every century: Will we reach our world for Christ? In other words, will we give priority to Christ's command to go into all the world and preach the gospel? Or will we turn increasingly inward, caught up in our own internal affairs or controversies, or simply becoming more and more comfortable with the status quo? Will we become inner-directed or outer-directed? The central issues of our time aren't economic or political or social, important as these are. The central issues of our time are moral and spiritual in nature, and our calling is to declare Christ's forgiveness and hope and transforming power to a world that does not know him or follow him. May we never forget this.

White as Snow

2011-01-11T09:10:00.000-08:00

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Jesus Paid It All

I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim,
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb. Jesus paid it all...

And now complete in Him
My robe His righteousness,
Close sheltered ’neath His side,
I am divinely blest. Jesus paid it all...

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone. Jesus paid it all...

When from my dying bed
My ransomed soul shall rise,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
Shall rend the vaulted skies. Jesus paid it all...

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down
All down at Jesus’ feet. Jesus paid it all...

-----------------------------------------

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.
Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.
Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
the God who saves me,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.
[Isaiah 1:18; Psalm 51:1-17; John 1:29; 1John 1:9]

The Steadfast Translator – Part 2

2010-12-30T08:13:00.000-08:00

Dr. Loren Bliese retired in 2006 after 44 years of serving in Ethiopia as Bible translation consultant and trainer of translation workers. Click here for Part 1 of the interview.

EthChurch: So you come home to your land after 40 years of traversing Ethiopian highlands and deserts only to find biblical standards you once took for granted are being challenged on every front by your children’s generation [especially in Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - ELCA]. Where do translation and interpretation of the bible fit in all this?

Dr. Bliese: Although Bible translation continues to emphasize accuracy, it is sad to see that current interpretations of the Bible have incorporated methods used to invalidate the clear intent of specific passages. The Bible is consistent in condemning homosexual practice in both the Old and New Testaments. However, theologians have set up principles of Biblical interpretation that try to paint the relevant passages as irrelevant. For example, Old Testament ritual laws that are no longer followed are used as support for doing away with laws regarding homosexual activity. However, there is a difference. The New Testament teaches freedom in Christ from ritual laws such as circumcision and not eating certain foods, but it continues the efficacy of the laws in regard to “sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 5.1). Paul’s condemnation in 5.1 of the “man living with his father’s wife” upholds Leviticus 18.8. This is in the same chapter as 18.22, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” Paul interprets homosexual activity as “degrading” and “shameless” in Romans 1. 24-27. Those who promote blessings of homosexual unions and making partnered homosexuals into models by ordaining them, in my opinion come close to those Paul refers to in Romans 1.32: they “even applaud others who practice” such things.

On the other hand, Ethiopian Evangelical [Lutheran] Church Mekane Yesus [EECMY] has come out recently to declare it is not going along with ELCA more specifically on its interpretation of teachings on sexuality. What would you suggest EECMY should learn or not learn from your choices in ELCA community?

ELCA has voted to accommodate a significant part of the membership who no longer see homosexual activity as sin. Since there are also many who continue to believe that God’s Word condemns homosexual activity, the assembly asked that their position also be honored. The term “bound in conscience” describes the impasse. Each side is asked to continue in fellowship in spite of the difference. However, an ELCA December 2010 news release reports that 290 congregations have left because of the assembly’s actions on sexuality issues. There are also around the same number among the 10,000 congregations who are still in the process of voting whether or not to leave ELCA. Financial support for the church has also been reduced significantly. Many congregations that chose to remain with ELCA have added statements in their By-Laws that they will not accept partnered homosexual pastors, or allow blessing of homosexual partners, which was the ELCA position before August 2009. EECMY can learn from this experience that opening ways to undermine Biblical interpretation is not a good solution for dealing with social issues. The goal of Biblical study is to understand and apply the meaning of the text, not to find ways to accommodate popular world views that oppose the Biblical message. The historical-critical stream of Biblical analysis should not be replaced by a cultural-critical analysis. Reinterpreting the Bible in order to deal with prejudices against homosexuals makes public opinion the judge of Biblical ethics. The Good News of the Gospel is not doing away with unpopular Biblical definitions of sin, but offering forgiveness of sin through Christ’s atonement. The Law leads to the knowledge of sin. The Gospel is the assurance that Christ saves the repentant sinner. We need to work to right the wrongs of injustice by loving action, not by bringing into question the Lutheran principle that the Word of God is the basis of our faith and life.

Another valuable point is to distinguish between sexual orientation and sexual practice. Sexual practices such as adultery are clearly identified as sin in scripture. However, sexual orientation is a biological preference toward either males or females, and in itself is not sin. It should not be a cause of rejection or persecution. A person’s sexual orientation influences how a person is tempted. Some are tempted with heterosexual lust, adultery or violence, others with homosexual lusts. Around five to seven percent are estimated to have homosexual orientation. My observation is that those on the opposite ends of the sexual orientation scale are tempted sexually more than those in the moderate middle. Recognizing this can help the church to understand that those who are strongly tempted sexually in one way or the other should not be rejected because of their orientation. Instead the church should offer support and counsel to help them deal with their specific temptations. We are all “bound in sin,” as the confession in the liturgy of the church affirms. No one fulfills God’s law. Whoever confesses and asks for forgiveness is accepted by God through Christ. We need then to accept each other in love as fellow sinners saved by grace, no matter what the sin, or whether or not the person has been freed from being bound in some particular sin.

You are a technical guy – I mean you are into words and their construction, their meanings and shades of meanings, etc. You are also a spiritual guy. I mean you do love Jesus, don’t you? So what does it mean for you to love Jesus?

Jesus loved me enough to die for me so that I can have forgiveness of my sins and eternal life with him. I respond with grateful love. I make efforts to nurture a loving relationship by prayer, worship and service. Remembering the description of Enoch and Noah, I keep the goal of “walking” with him in constant companionship.

Out there in the desert what were some instances that you became particularly aware of God’s presence? Do you want to share an observed miracle in the sense used in the Gospels?

During recent trips to the desert I have experienced God’s protection in remarkable ways. A year ago after working for several days on Bible translation, we took down our tent to move on. Under the tent was a six-inch scorpion. We recalled the words of Jesus in Luke 10 to the 70 disciples that he sent out to preach and heal. “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions.” Some months later when we went back, we put the tent in the same place. When we took it down that time there was a ten-inch viper under it. We saw these not as coincidences, but as signs that because we were God’s messengers, he was continuing his protection to us from both physical and spiritual dangers. We saw it as spiritual warfare where we were experiencing opposition when we showed the Jesus film with the Good News of salvation through Christ’s death on the cross. God gave assurance that he wants the message to be given to those who want to hear it.

We have been seeing lots of church/ministry activities within Ethiopian communities scattered across the globe over the past two decades. Influences of contemporary culture on the language we employ, on spirituality, on consumption habits, etc are becoming very evident. You observe a distinct style of preaching [reminiscent of TV-personalities] or sermons in a mix of English and Amharic or an inclination to not declare the uniqueness of Christ in order not to appear intolerant, etc. Could you talk on this?

As you point out, the dangers of worldly culture need to be recognized and dealt with. Remaining faithful to Christ is a special challenge when coming into a culture that is more indifferent to spiritual concerns. Ethiopian Christians have a deep concern for the eternal salvation of those in other faiths who don’t know Jesus as the crucified Savior. They need to work to continue this concern when they go abroad where the teaching of tolerance puts pressure on believers to not share their faith. Ethiopians can be an inspiration for Western Christians to respond to Christ’s command to “make disciples of all nations.”

What would you advise a new believer by way of helping him or her understand the bible better? Are there few fundamentals for interpreting the bible?

The most important reason to study the Bible is that it proclaims Christ, as Martin Luther pointed out. The principle that “scripture interprets scripture” helps in difficult passages. If some interpretation goes against the rest of scripture, be wary of it. As I noted above, another fundamental is that scripture is both Law and Gospel. The Gospel is the goal, so keep Paul’s warning in mind so as to not interpret the Law as a means to gain salvation. Another good guideline is to begin interpreting a passage by asking, “What did it mean to the original audience?” This requires reading the whole context around the passage, and checking study Bible notes and commentaries in order to clarify the original situation and other Biblical passages related to the text. This will help to give an interpretation or application that is in line with God’s original message.

What have you been up to lately?

My granddaughter Marie and I were in Ethiopia in October and November. I served as a consultant for the Kambaata, Hadiyya and East Oromo Bible translation projects. I also spend 17 days in the north, including showing films and sharing friendship in the desert.

Where does your wife fit into all this [other than keeping you from losing your way in the desert]? And how are the children translating the Word now?

Edith has not accompanied me during the last two years on my semi-annual Ethiopian trips because of back pain. She supports me with prayer and keeping things in order. My daughter Laurie and grandchild Sarah are planning to join me in January - February 2011 for another Ethiopian trip. They experience wonderful opportunities of service by relating to people in Ethiopia as well as in their own church in the US.

Which among present English translations would you consider a good translation? Why?

The New Revised Standard Version is good for showing the original text with its idioms. The Good News Translation is good for showing the full meaning, especially where the original idioms and original meaning would not be clear to a modern audience. It is useful to read both together in Bible study to know what was originally written and to have a guide to help make implicit knowledge explicit. The New International Version combines some of both of these features, and is especially liked by many evangelical Christians. Various other translations can serve one or the other of these functions, so comparing them is helpful in Bible study.

What is wrong with the Haileselassie Amharic version [1962]? Could a glossary or a commentary have helped without going into the trouble of doing a new translation? Do you think the process of newer translations could deprive the generation it is intended for of the use and richness of certain words and their historical-cultural meanings?

The 1962 Amharic version is good. It is like the Revised Standard Version or New King James Version in its methodology. That means translating the original words and idioms consistently wherever possible. It needs to be noted that even the most literal translations must use different words when the various meanings of the original word are too far apart. The Bible Society of Ethiopia is now working on a Study Bible for the 1962 version, which will help readers understand the literal text. Although there is a loss in modern translations in that Hebrew and Greek words with multiple meanings are not as consistently translated by the same words, the greater gain is that the translation can be clear and natural. The principles of Bible translation include the rule that Biblical terms should be translated consistently on the basis of their meanings, not on the basis of the root.

We’ve certainly observed the translation one adheres to has influences on one’s attitude to life in general. We can cite Scofield’s or Darby’s bibles on end time teachings. What are some ways one could keep ‘balance’?

The Bible Societies appoint consultants who check translations and sign for them before they are published. One of the reasons is to correct places where the theological position of a translator has influenced the translation so that it is not accurately representing the original meaning. Efforts are made to include all denominations in a language area as either translators or reviewers so that sectarian interpretations will be identified and corrected. Readers of published scriptures are encouraged to send in suggested corrections when they find errors so they can be dealt with in future editions. Doing Bible study with several versions helps to identify problems and have input on what the original meaning is when there are questions.

Let me make a string of statements and have you react to them. Missionaries [from evangelist Philip to Frumentius to Johann Ludwig Krapf to Thomas Lambie] have sacrificed a great deal to bring the whole gospel to our land – they helped build not only churches but also schools and clinics. This is not to say the missionaries were not greatly encouraged in their work, especially, by Emperor Haileselassie and many ordinary Ethiopians. We look back over the past 100 years and we are deeply grateful to the Lord as well as deeply troubled. We are grateful for individual and social transformation that the preaching of the gospel wrought and troubled because the missionary enterprise by and large did not succeed in developing native leaders. Rather, it created cultural distance between local leaders [by carving out theological turf], nurtured resource-dependence, imposed a somewhat western-orientation [Dallas’ Way over local or regional understanding and theologizing] and, as a result of globalization, introduced a disconcerting proliferation of ‘short-term’ and portable para-church groups that are accountable to no one or to organizations of their choice. Resource-dependence has now become the instrument for raising funds and demanding compliance of target populations to a theological/ideological position.

The principle of wholistic/holistic ministry--serving both the physical and spiritual needs of the community-began with Christ and continues throughout Christian history. Missions, and the churches that grew out of their work, are rightly proud of their heritage and of the medical, educational, and community development services they are giving. However, as you point out, the dependence on foreign money that missionary work of the last century has created is truly a danger. Goals of "self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating" have been compromised as missions and the churches they established became agencies of humanitarian service. The pressures of local needs and of meeting requirements for government approval have resulted in missions and churches becoming funnels for foreign aid. The large amounts of money involved have undermined the goals of self-reliance for the church in that the local contribution is often lacking or insignificant. Members are often turned off from stewardship when they see their own poverty in comparison to the big money of the projects. Para-church organizations with their large budgets from donors in the West sometimes have the added negative influence you pointed out of serving their donor groups' aims and theological positions more than the needs of local communities. On the other hand, I have appreciated that workers in many para-church organizations become active leaders in local congregations where they serve. EECMY has struggled with self-reliance throughout its history, and goals were repeatedly delayed or changed when not met. It is gratifying to see that EECMY is making significant progress in recent years toward breaking from dependence in its spiritual ministry.

The importance of training leaders has been recognized by churches and missions. They have furthered literacy programs and educational institutions at all levels. Bible schools and seminaries have trained many pastors and evangelists. Many lay leaders are being trained in extension programs. However, the problem you refer to is real in that missions and churches teach their own theology, and thereby cause separation between local leaders. Hopefully, the training also includes the importance of mutual respect for other Christian groups, and instills a desire to work together with those from different denominations for the sake of the unity of the body of Christ. Another point is that the problem of brain-drain has plagued the efforts for building up leaders. The attractions of Western standards of living have meant the loss of many who were trained to be leaders. We continue to pray that God will "send laborers" to serve where the harvest is ready.

Culture: A major reason that I was called to Mekane Yesus Seminary as principal in 1970 was because of the criticism that the seminary was not integrated with Ethiopian culture. Dr. Immanuel Gebre-Sillassie complained that the graduates knew the English Bible better than the Amharic. The board inaugurated the Theological Education by Extension program where texts were produced in Amharic and the training was done in the synods without the students being uprooted to Addis Ababa. Aleqa Meseret Sibhat-leab had been teaching courses in Amharic, Geez and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church from the beginning of the seminary. Other efforts were made to integrate Ethiopian culture into the program. For example, I taught my courses in Amharic. Having more Ethiopian staff now is a big step in integrating local culture and developing a culturally sensitive theology.

What role does expository preaching play to further the purposes of bible translation? Conversely, how does deficiency in expository preaching compound the problem of biblical illiteracy that is bound to result in confusing biblical standards?

Bible translation and expository preaching go hand in hand. Both seek to bring God's Word into the lives of people to inspire faith in Christ and faith's response to be "active in love." If preaching departs from a Biblical basis, hearers will be less interested in searching the scriptures to find God's truth (John 8.31-32). There will be less concern when biblical standards are replaced by culturally popular views.

You said something about seminary students in the early 1970s knowing the English bible more than the Amharic and measures taken to correct the problem. There are new realities pertaining to language[s] that have emerged especially since the early 1990s that I want you to address. It is not unusual to hear sermons routinely laced with English phrases, mannerisms, and biblical verses. In fact, one could say it is fast becoming the norm. There is evidence that Christian lingo is shutting out those outside the church community and forcing those within to conform indiscriminately. Mother-tongue language policy in some cases effectively introduced the idea that it is ok to not worship together as each now has their own language. It used to be division along induced denominationalism and now along language rights. What should be the appropriate theological/biblical response to all this? Is there a Christian perspective on languages?

St. Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians 9.19-23 ending with "I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some," is a good place to start in looking for a Christian perspective on languages. The goal is to meet people where they are. In language this means the way people communicate on a general basis. Bible translators call this the "common language" that people use when the educated and uneducated get together. Technical and foreign words are usually avoided so as not to appear to be showing off or making oneself out to be superior. If they are used, they are explained in order to include all hearers. I agree that using English words and phrases in sermons should be discouraged since it excludes those who don't know the terms in English. Using the language level of the educated people in the audience may be good for them, but should be avoided when other levels of language use are present.

Language policy often causes splits in communities, as it did in EECMY. We thank God that the division there has been overcome, and unity is being restored. The point you make for joint worship in a common language is good when done in tandem with the use of mother tongues among those for whom different mother tongues are the primary means of communication. Government policies play a big role. During the time of the Emperors and the later years of the Derg the use of Amharic was furthered and even imposed in the interest of the national unity. Missionaries were required to preach and teach in Amharic. In contrast, the Derg in its early years and the present government emphasize the development of local languages. This has opened the way for Bible translation in many languages. It has also furthered the use of the vernacular in worship. However in places where Amharic is the common language of a diverse local community, using Amharic still makes sense when worshiping together. The government and EECMY both make use of Amharic to work together on a national level. In order to further the goal of unity in the one body of Christ, Christians do well in making use of whatever common language they have, as well as joining in worship with those of their mother tongue.

How would you define generations of Ethiopians over the years you had the privilege of observing, so to speak, from the first row or back row?

It is a joy and inspiration to see the steadfast faith of the Ethiopian people through several generations. Western culture has moved into an era where spirituality is low among many, and it is more of a challenge to express ones faith. Ethiopians in general continue seeing life in view of eternity, and seeing Scripture as the guide in both this life and how to find eternal life in heaven. Believers are sincerely concerned to share the Good News of salvation through Christ with others so that they also may find the Way, the Truth and the Life.

You helped translate the bible into some 20 Ethiopian languages. How diverse are Ethiopians and how homogenous? What concepts or cultural mores cut across those groups? Any anthropological insight there?

Ethiopian culture is very diverse, but also has common cultural mores. A lot of the diversity is based on religion, whether a person is a Christian or a Muslim. Marriage customs show such differences, with monogamy versus polygamy, and emphasis on permanency versus the ease of divorce in Islamic marriages. I see continuity in the emphasis on community in Ethiopia, in contrast to individualism in the West. Most western marriages are not as much a community event as Ethiopian weddings, whether Christian or Muslim. The social structures include longer participation with the wedding attendants, and returning to the bride’s home for a post-wedding feast. Similarly, in the desert the time for the consummation of the marriage is around a week after the wedding and also involves the wedding party. The young desert bride usually stays at her parent’s home for around a year after the marriage, and if she already left, returns for the birth of at least the first child. In the West the bride normally stays with her husband, and her mother may come to her away from the original community.

What would you say are the major points of difference between the newest Amharic translation [medebegna] and one by Ethiopian Orthodox scholars?

The Medebegna Amharic is based on the New International Version, which has a double goal 1/ to keep the original idioms especially in well-known passages, and 2/ to clarify passages where a literal translation might be misleading. It’s value is shown in that it has replaced the Haile-Sellassie version in many protestant groups. The Old Testament in the new Ethiopian Orthodox version published by the Bible Society of Ethiopia is a translation of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures done around 250 BC. It also includes other books as in the Ethiopian Orthodox 81-book tradition. The Geez Ethiopic text is also noted in footnotes when it differs from the Hebrew or Greek. Since the Septuagint was used by the early Christian church and Geez translators, this new translation was done to make it available in Amharic. The New Amharic Translation should also be noted. It was translated in 1988 by translators from the Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox churches, and a revision with other translators from these three churches was published in 2005. The first draft was based on the Good News Translation. The revision has kept the goals of naturalness and clarity by filling in implicit information known to the original readers, but is more literal in many places where the first published interpretation of the text excluded possibilities supported in other translations and commentaries.

Do you think missionary societies [and more recently, para-churches now on the verge of supplanting churches] should get together and discuss ways of not sacrificing the unity of target populations for their own “little agendas”? Or probably finding ways of coordinating their efforts and thus make effective use of fast shrinking resources?

Cooperation between different denominations is very important in mission, both in outreach and in service to the community. In places where there is strong opposition to the Christian message, denominational divisions make acceptance more difficult. Coordinating efforts makes it possible to do more in order to better reach target populations and encourage them to focus on their own cultural expression of their faith. In the last half of the 20th century when many outside missions came to Ethiopia, they formed an intermission committee that gave advice as to where to locate and what common work could be done. The Evangelical Fellowship is fulfilling some of these functions now. Further cooperation with para-church organizations should be pursued. The goal of ethnically based indigenous churches should be encouraged in mission outreach.

How do you say “thank you” in Amharic? And the response? Do you mind signing your name in Amharic down there?

“Thank you” in Amharic has different meanings than in English. “Egziabiher yistilign” means “May God reward you on my behalf.” It is a prayer for God to bless the person who has done something good to you. However, it can also be used negatively when putting off a beggar, implying “I won’t give you anything, let God do it.” It can also be used sarcastically with the idea of “You should have done this sooner, or better.” In fact using it as often as Americans use “Thank you” every time you receive anything sounds sarcastic, or at best out of place. “Egziabiher yibarekih” is a popular version used among some Christian groups. It means “God bless you” and avoids the negative connotations. However, it too would not be appropriate when what was done would normally be expected. Another form is “Amesegginehallehu” with the basic meaning “I praise you.” (The masculine -h- for “you” changes to –sh- for feminine, and -ccihw- for plural.) It fits very well with thanks/praise to God such as in “Egziabiher yimesgin” “Thanks be to God” used in greetings as well as prayers. However, it also sounds out of place if used as much as Americans use “Thank you.” Who would praise someone for handing you the potatoes being passed around the table? In such cases a simple “Isshi” “ok” is sufficient.

Do Not Fear, Jesus Is Near

2010-12-23T12:19:00.000-08:00

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived. When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”, and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss your servant in
peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in
the sight of all nations:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”
The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him. [Gospel of Luke 2]

Baby Business

2010-12-14T12:05:00.000-08:00

Under Pressure, Ethiopia Plans Crackdown on Baby Business

Source: VOA

Ethiopia is planning to shut down dozens of orphanages and withdraw accreditation from several foreign adoption agencies, in an effort to halt what critics say is a thriving baby business. The Bright Hope transition center in Addis Ababa is a showcase child care facility, financed by a faith-based Texas charity. Twenty abandoned children, ranging in age from several months to four years, play in a carefully supervised environment as they wait to be placed in adoptive homes.

Bright Hope Director Getahun Nesibu Tesema says most of these orphans will be taken in by extended family members in Ethiopia. "Our main focus is to help the children here in Ethiopia," Getahun said. "Adoption, international adoption especially, is our last resort." But Bright Hope is an exception among foreign adoption agencies, in that it tries to place children within Ethiopia. This year, foreigners will take away about 5,000 Ethiopian orphans, often paying between $20,000 and $35,000 each for the privilege.

Half that number, nearly 2,500, will go to the United States. That is a ten-fold increase above the numbers just a few years ago. U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, co-chair of the Congressional Adoptions Coalition recently stopped at Bright Hope during a visit to the country that is becoming the destination of choice for Americans adopting overseas. Landrieu says it is easy to see why the number of Ethiopian orphans going to the United States has skyrocketed.

"One of the reasons is because people in America are falling in love with Ethiopian children," Landrieu said. "They love them. It's very simple. They think they're beautiful and smart." The rapid rise in Ethiopian adoptions has set off alarm bells among children's lobby groups. The U.S. State Department issued a statement this month expressing concern about reports of adoption-related fraud, malfeasance and abuse in Ethiopia. The statement warns prospective adoptive parents to expect delays in the adoption process. It says additional information may be required to determine facts surrounding a child's relinquishment or abandonment and whether the child meets the definition of orphan, under U.S. Immigration law.

Embassy consular officials say nearly two years of data collection has enabled them to identify individuals and agencies involved in unusual adoption activities. U.N. Children's Fund in Addis Ababa chief Doug Webb says the large amount of money changing hands in adoptions is a huge temptation in an impoverished country. "Money is a powerful factor in this country," Webb said. "We're talking about $20-25,000 per adoption coming into the country. And, there is increasing evidence of irregularities within the system of various types of problems at different levels. And, these have been well documented by PEAR."

Parents for Ethical Adoption Reform did a study of Ethiopia, this year, after detecting a pattern of troubles similar to those in Vietnam and Guatemala before they were closed to American adoptions. The PEAR study turned up evidence of unethical practices by adoption agencies and the use of coercive methods to persuade mothers to give up their babies. Conditions in orphanages were found to be particularly severe. Some had no running water or sanitary facilities. Children are said to have suffered sexual abuse and beatings. Ethiopian officials say their own studies confirm PEAR's findings. Mahadir Bitow, head of Ethiopia's Child Rights Promotion and Protection Director tells VOA one of the first priorities will be to close dozens of orphanages that appear to have sprung up to meet the demand for children.

"Before 6-7 years there were not a lot of orphanages, like there are now, so the increased number of adoption agencies brought about the increase in the number of orphanages in Ethiopia," Mahadir said. "Most of these orphanages are not orphanages. They are transit homes. They receive children. They give to adoption. They are a (pipeline). So in the future we will not need all these orphanages." Mahadir would give no time frame for shutting down orphanages that exist simply to fill the demand in the United States and a few other Western countries for Ethiopian babies. She acknowledges the plan to close as many as 25 percent of the country's orphanages could create temporary havoc, as officials scramble to place thousands of de-institutionalized children. But she says taking away financial incentives should reduce the supply of babies offered for inter-country adoption. Mahadir tells VOA the government also plans to re-accredit all foreign adoption agencies, using higher standards to weed out those involved in questionable practices. Child care advocates have been urging such a move for years.

Part two of this series will examine whether an impoverished country like Ethiopia, with a weak social services infrastructure, can successfully fight the moneyed interests intent on keeping the baby pipeline open. And, if they do succeed, whether the phenomenon will simply pop up in another part of the globe. Read more here.

The Rich Fool

2010-12-09T13:25:00.000-08:00

Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. [Luke 12: 13-21]

"But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness." [1 Tim. 6:9-11]

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. [2 Corinthians 8:9 ]

The Real Wikileaks

2010-11-29T06:23:00.000-08:00

The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
“I the LORD search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward a man according to his conduct,
according to what his deeds deserve.”

For [the Lord] views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.
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"His eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their every step.
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The LORD knows the thoughts of man; he knows that they are futile.

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. Revelation 20:12

I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways!

I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you."

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Time To Give Thanks

2010-11-24T12:42:00.000-08:00

I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever.
Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
One generation commends your works to another;
they tell of your mighty acts.
They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
They tell of the power of your awesome works—
and I will proclaim your great deeds.
They celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
The LORD is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
The LORD is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.
All your works praise you, LORD;
your faithful people extol you.
They tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,
so that all people may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises
and faithful in all he does.
The LORD upholds all who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
The LORD is righteous in all his ways
and faithful in all he does.
The LORD is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.
The LORD watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD.
Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever. [Psalm 145]

The Prince is the Groom

2010-11-16T14:40:00.000-08:00

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.
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I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
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Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
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For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
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Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
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"I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.
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Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

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Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Jesus is the Groom; the believing church is the Bride.