Cross-Cultural-Transformational Truth
Isa 55:10-11
As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
The trip to Malawi was a pleasant and awesome surprise. We learned of Chet and Leanne Burns' invitation to minister in Malawi after we arrived in Lusaka, Zambia. We were told that there was a great need for solid biblical teaching there. We were also informed that Malawi was more rural and dependent upon farming than her Zambian neighbor. Her people had not been forced to gather in the big city in search of work and food. They were content to stay in their local villages and live off the rich farmlands that blessed the Malawi landscape. Consequently, Malawians are not as influenced by the ways of the West as the Zambians. As we prepared ourselves for the trip, I personally wondered if their lack of education and our ignorance of their culture might be too great of an obstacle for our teaching to be understood and applied.
I Delight in Your Decrees: A Personal Testimony
Psalm 119:9-18
“I think the Word of God teaches us more things concerning it….than has been generally believed, and that it exhibits many things concerning it, exceeding glorious and wonderful, than have been taken notice of.” Jonathon Edwards
I am writing a seminar and teaching it around the world to ask one question: Why does the Psalmist delight in God’s decrees? It is not the most important question that we can ask but I think it leads to the most important question we can ask. I say that because if we get it wrong here we get it wrong all the way down the line. There is something about delighting in God’s decrees that makes all the difference in the way we live and the way we minister. Too often the Church has turned to the Word out of duty rather than delight and the results have been disastrous. Not only has the Church become weak because of it. Something infinitely more tragic has happened: God has been dishonored because of it.
We at GMTB love the clear bold witness of John Wesley. He confidently and joyfully declared the sufficiency of God's Word. Tragically, today many church leaders have lost that confidence. Many doubt whether the Bible is really a sufficient resource for the growing and healing of the church in such a hostile and sick environment. Many in the church have lost their confidence in the power of God's Word and have been intimidated into silence.
Cal Thomas had the opportunity to interview the infamous atheist Madalyn Murray Ohare before she met her Maker. She is the one, you will remember, who was given the "credit" for ending prayer in the schools. Thomas asked her why so many people feared her. Her answer was startling. She replied, "I will tell you, Mr. Thomas, why some Christians are afraid of me. They’re not sure that what they believe is really true. If they were sure, I wouldn’t be a threat to them at all."
