• Our hope-filled future is bound up in sharing the story of Jesus, in discipling others, in bringing those disciples together into communities of believers, and in developing and releasing those believers to create other communities... till Jesus the King comes again!

The Congress Is Open

Posted on October 17, 2010 by wtdavid

Some snippets from the day:

Ramez Attallah of the Egyptian Bible Society, in explaining the purpose of dividing the entire Congress into table groups of six people, encourages us to recognize that there are not twenty speakers, but 4500 speakers and presenters as we speak into one another lives around the tables.

My table has people from South Korea, Serbia, Malaysia, India, and the US.  If this is in any way representative of other table groups, the the dialogue just around the table will be a “global conversation.”

A letter is read from Billy Graham where he exhorts the Congress to recognize that many things have changed since the first Lausanne Congress in 1974, and that we should be diligent to assess those new realities of our times.  However, he went on to say, some things have not changed over the years: the deepest need of the human heart is still to be reconciled to God; the Gospel has not changed, it is still the message of hope; nor has our mandate changed to go into all the world with the Gospel

Archbishop Henry Orombi of the Anglican Church of Uganda shared how it is a miracle that this Congress is being held in Africa, but that it is equally a miracle that God entrusts His message of reconciliation to us ordinary people.

Singing together the hymn that was the theme song for the Edinburgh 1910 World Missions conference: “Crown Him With Many Crowns”.

1200 participants are pastors; 1200 participants are missionaries; 1200 participants are academics; and 600 are marketplace ministers.

A new song is learned with the refrain: “We who were sin, now shine in righteousness; filled with His life and reconciled in Him.”

Doug Birdsall, chair of the Lausanne Committee, declares the third Lausanne Congress officially open: “May the dialogue begin!”

Filed under: Cape Town 2010, Mission | Leave a comment »

Asking Deeper Questions

Posted on October 16, 2010 by wtdavid

The third Lausanne conference is about once again asking deeper questions of how we will work together to see the church established around the world.  The theme verse describes this vision: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.  And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”  (2 Corinthians 5:18-19).  However, the desire is not simply to go deeper in discussion of theological and missiological issues, but to share deeply with one another as brothers and sisters in the global Church so as to better partner together.

To this end, the entire conference delegation (4500 participants) has been broken down into small table groups of six people.  I am one of the many table group facilitators.  Today during the training that was provided, we walked through the questions each table group member will consider as they share a part of their story with the rest of us. Certain questions are straightforward such as telling us your name or something about your country and your work.  But then the focus changes with subsequent questions:

  1. What is one hope for your experience at Cape Town 2010 this week?
  2. What is one strength (natural ability or gift) God has given you?
  3. What is one limit, weakness or hardship that is in your life?
  4. What is one prayer request you have for this week?

As we “practiced” sharing our stories in response to these questions with other table group leaders, I realized my (our) great need for God’s grace again today.  How can one demonstrate such vulnerability if he/she is not secure in who he/she is in Christ?  And isn’t that the thrust of that beginning chapter of Ephesians? 

What a day.  I am amazed by the people I have already met and their stories.  May our relationships be characterized by deep missiological reflection together, but also by deep sharing of our stories with each other.

Filed under: Cape Town 2010, Community | Leave a comment »

God Is Up To Something

Posted on October 15, 2010 by wtdavid

We apostolic workers can forget sometimes what it means, what it feels like to cross into another culture.  We can so adapt ourselves to the cultures where we currently minister that we become “one culture” focused again, acting out of that cultural mindset. Having ministered in a European context for the past twenty years, I know that I, like others, have become guarded or cautious about effusive expressions of graciousness or kindness from others, like many Europeans.  That was quickly dispelled by a few “divine encounters” here in Cape Town. 

  • Sitting on the flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town, I had pulled my Bible out to do some reading when a guy going by me, taps me on the shoulder and says, “Great book you’re reading.”  I was actually reading Psalm 98 which is an interesting read in light of the Lausanne Conference.
  • As I passed through customs and out the exit, I was greeted by a number of people in yellow Cape Town 2010 tee shirts.  “Where are you from?” they asked, “May the Lord bless your time here.”  It felt sincere, it felt good, and it felt like a blessing.
  • As about 100 of us lined up to take one of the many shuttles to the International Conference Center of Cape Town, we were “welcomed” by a South African singing & dance troupe like none I have ever seen in Europe.  Their joy was explosive and contagious, and they didn’t stop until the shuttle bus started to pull away.  

I was crossing again into another culture (into numerous cultures when one thinks about the overall conference) and the anticipation, the uncertainty and the thrill of the experience was coming back.  You remember what it was like.  And you remember that though you thought it was really about you and what you were going to do, God showed you that it was really about Him and what He was going to teach you through the experience as well as what He could do through you.

God is up to something here at Cape Town.  I trust He is “up to something” where you are as well.

Filed under: Cape Town 2010, Crossing cultures, Gospel | 2 Comments »

On The Way To Cape Town

Posted on October 14, 2010 by wtdavid

I leave tonight for Cape Town (23h20 Paris time), and would appreciate your prayers for traveling mercies as well as for what I shared in a previous post: that I would have a posture of “humble listening”; that I would listen well to others and discern what God is saying to me and to us as a mission community through these brothers and sisters in Christ from so many different nations and people groups. 

Thanks for the ongoing conversation.  I’ll talk to you from Cape Town.

Filed under: Community, Mission, Prayer | Leave a comment »

Ours Should Be “A Praying Life”

Posted on October 13, 2010 by wtdavid

Watching one of the 33 Chilean miners emerge from “rescue capsule” and fall to his knees in prayer to thank “el Señor”, reminded me of the unbelievable “rescue” achieved for us in Jesus.  It was a simple yet profound image of what our constant reflex should be, that is, to “fall to our knees” in prayer and thank our Father for His work in rescuing and adopting us.  Ours should be a praying life.

David Powlison introduces the book, A Praying Life, with this thought: “A praying life is an oddly normal way to live.  The best our world has to offer is to teach you how to talk to yourself.  Change what you tell yourself, and your feelings about yourself will change.  Change your self-talk, and how you feel about yourself with change.  Talk yourself out of getting upset about what you can’t change.  Do something constructive about what you can change.  Those are the world’s best efforts.  It’s a familiar but abnormal way to live.  But Jesus lives and teaches something different.  What he does – and helps you do – is unfamiliar but normal.  It’s human and it’s humane: how life’s meant to be.  He teaches you how to stop talking to yourself.  He shows how to stop making prayer into a production.  Jesus teaches you to start talking with your father – to “my Father and your Father”.”

It is that life of talking with our Father that we want to encourage one another in as we read this book together.  I have talked to many who have already begun to read the book and are finding benefit in it. 

Beginning November 1st, I and others will share questions, insights and thoughts about each chapter or section of the book that we hope will encourage dialogue between us.

Filed under: Gospel, Prayer | 2 Comments »

Humble Listening

Posted on October 11, 2010 by wtdavid

“For the Christian, dialogue is a fundamental aspect of bearing witness to the truth of Christ.  Where there is genuine longing for the other to come to ‘the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’ (2 Cor. 4:6), there will always be a posture of humbling listening.  For it is the desire to communicate that motivates us also to listen well.  Listening to people involves taking their beliefs, fears and aspirations with utmost seriousness, even being prepared to be disturbed and challenged by them ourselves.  All witness, and thus all true dialogue, is a risky undertaking.  Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also (12:26). It is not the missionary who carries Jesus to others; on the contrary, it is the crucified and risen Jesus who leads us in our witness into places where we fear to venture.”

This quote comes from a book I’ve been working my way through: The Message of Mission, by Howard Peskett and Vinoth Ramachandra.  I recognize that it speaks of our own witness to others of the truth of God, and how in that process we as well can grow from that “dialogue”.

But these words also spoke to my heart as I consider my ongoing preparation for Cape Town 2010.  I think that they encapsulate what should be my main prayer, and the one I would ask you to pray for me: that I would have a posture of “humble listening”; that I would listen well to others and discern what God is saying to me and to us as a mission community through these brothers and sisters in Christ from so many different nations and people groups. 

Maybe this should be our prayer together over the coming days: that we would humbly listen to those around us where we serve, and learn what God would have to say to us through them.

Filed under: Communication, Humility, Sharing the Gospel story | 1 Comment »

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