To Be a Disciple

Today in the American Christian Church, I think we have a very shallow understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. I was reading that passage recently, and was struck at my own shortcomings.

Luke 14:25-30,33 Great crowds of people were going along with Jesus. He turned and said to them, "Whoever comes to me cannot be my disciple unless he hates his father and his mother, his wife and his children, his brothers and his sisters, and himself as well. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. If one of you is planning to build a tower, he sits down first and figures out what it will cost, to see if he has enough money to finish the job. If he doesn't, he will not be able to finish the tower after laying the foundation; and all who see what happened will make fun of him. 'This man began to build but can't finish the job!' they will say...In the same way," concluded Jesus, "none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up everything he has."

Please meditate on this passage and contemplate what it means for you, and read the reports below and pray for our brothers and sisters in India living out this kind of discipleship.

INDIA (VOM Canada) On the night of August 5th, more than 50 Hindu militants stormed the House of Hope orphanage in Dantewara, Chhattisgarh state, in an attempt to forcibly close it. According to sources, the mob was armed with clubs and bamboo sticks. They beat the director, Suresh (35), and threatened to kill him if he continues with the orphanage. They also questioned and threatened several of the children. Suresh is presently in treatment for his injuries. Efforts to lodge a police complaint have failed.

(Compass Direct) Hindu extremists have threatened four Christian women accused of "forced" conversion in Tamil Nadu state, while two priests of a Catholic high school in neighboring Karnataka state have been attacked. August 5th police led a team of four women from the Good Shepherd Community Church in Erode district of Tamil Nadu to reach a compromise agreement with the person who had accused them of forced conversion. The women had shown a Christian film to about 150 people without incident. Under the agreement, the women are not to preach Christ to anyone who objects or expresses unwillingness to listen. Earlier, in Hebbagodi, near Bangalore, Father Soby Thomas, vice-principal of St. Francis de Sales High School, and school administrator Father Vinod Kanat, were attacked with cricket bats by a group of about 20 people outside the hostel for poor students at Kammasandra.

(Compass Direct) August 14th, when Vinod Karsal, pastor at the Assembly of God Church in Jabalpur, visited another pastor to pray for him, a mob of 45 to 50 people gathered outside the house, and began shouting anti-Christian chants and broke in. Unable to find the Bible the pastors had hidden, the Hindu extremists planted gospel tracts in the glove compartment of Karsal's scooter and police soon arrived to arrest him for "forcible conversion." Police held him until 11:30 p.m., until raging crowds outside the station baying for the pastor had dispersed.

Source: VOM USA-News and Prayer Update

Peru Update

I thought I’d update you all on my trip to Peru.The Christian camp we visited, located in the south-western part of Peru in the valley of Vítur, is run by American missionaries Eric and Tina Van Pelt. Their ministry to the people of the valley is in evangelism through camp outreaches and discipleship. This focus opened up a wide variety of opportunities for us to be involved in their vision.

One of the first things we did when arriving at Camp La Joya was to help with a teen overnight camp. Despite the language barrier that I faced even after taking three years of Spanish in school, I was able to build a friendship with one young man. I was also privileged to share my testimony at the campfire before all of the teens and camp staff. Further into the week, I helped in teaching a large part of the VBS material in Spanish.

According to Eric Van Pelt, out of the two thousand people living within a couple mile radius from the camp, only four or five are born-again believers. The truths of Christianity are often muddled with animism and superstition. One night, while ministering at a small church in San Luis, a village just down the road from the camp, a young couple – Francisco and Viviana – began asking questions about demons. Our translator stayed behind after the service and talked to them for nearly an hour. Viviana was a believer, Francisco was not. On previous nights, it was Viviana who had constantly prodded Francisco to come to church, but this night he had suggested they attend. They were both afraid of demonic forces and asked if evil spirits could manifest themselves in visible form. They had been up until three o’ clock in the morning at times, terrified of demons. Our translator spoke with them, gave them biblical answers, and later met with them at their house to do a follow-up visit. It was not until we returned to the States that we learned that Francisco had been born-again soon after we left.

Besides ministry, we were able to assist the camp in a lot of work projects. I was involved in building a bridge for a semi-truck so that the camp would be better equipped to harvest their corn-crops. This may seem trivial at first, but as Eric shared with us, if this bridge was constructed, the camp would be able to develop self-sufficiency. With self-sufficiency they could lower their prices for camp so that more children could attend and hear the gospel. Some of the others worked on varnishing woodwork, building a retaining wall and many other projects.
Even after all of this we had some time for fun. The Peruvians were very kind and no one I spoke with minded helping me as I struggled to communicate in their language. We had a lot of laughs in English class as they tried to learn a little bit of our language. We also played soccer, rode horses and ran an obstacle course. Even when we weren’t officially having a recreation time, there was time to laugh and kid around, even while working.

I have a growing interest in missions – especially in translation. Please pray for the Lord’s will as I begin thinking about longer trips in the future, and perhaps education that would prepare me to be a missionary full time if the Lord leads in that direction.

Persecuted and Comfort

Jonathan L. McCarthy
Intended as an addition to the book Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

Now I saw in my dream that Christian had come to a certain hill named Tribulation. At the top of this hill lay a man much beaten, and in the shadow of the hill another man was reclining comfortably. Christian wondered very much at this strange scene, and addressed the first man in this manner:

Christian: Dear sir, what is your name and why are you laying in such poor condition upon the road?

Persecuted: My name is Persecuted, and I have been beaten for the sake of Christ, and lay here dying after my assailants have plundered and bruised me.

Chris: Tell me, Persecuted, do you now feel that the prize before you is worthy of such sufferings?

Persecuted: Indeed, more and more! For, strange as it may seem, the harsher the pain, the clearer the face of Christ becomes, and the more distinctly I hear the promise, "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And again He tells me, "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." And if I am to be equated with the prophets by this moment of pain, who am I to complain?

Chris: So you find your spiritual life enriched by your sufferings?

Persecuted: Indeed, for I consider that passage, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." And later it says, "Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him."

Chris: But surely you feel defeated, never to rise again?

Persecuted: On the contrary, have you not read the proverb, "For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again"? So for now, I will remember what He said to the apostle Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." May my weakness bring glory to Him.
And I saw in my dream that now Christian fell to weeping, for his brother, Persecuted, had perished only a moment after gasping out these last words. So for a time, he wept, but having recovered himself, he decided to speak with the other man.

Chris: Excuse me, sir, but may I ask how you could sit so comfortably in this shade here while a man was dying only inches away? Indeed, if you were a Christian, I would have much to rebuke you for, but I see that you must be an unbeliever. What is your name?

Comfort: My name is Comfort, and I am a believer! The nerve of some people! As for the man, well it was his own foolishness that got him where he is. I have no time for fools.

Chris: Elaborate a bit, please.

Comfort: Well, he had the poor sense to go galloping out in front of those ruffians and start trying to convert them. In my mind, someone needs to go to hell to keep the place in business, so there is no good in wasting time on people who will only scorn you for your words. Besides, we are told not to cast pearls before swine.

Chris: To be sure we are not to continually throw the things of God at the fool who rejects them, but we are to share the gospel with all creation! Who may judge which ones the Spirit will convert? In fact, I feel that we often use the verse mentioned not in its proper context, but rather as a shield to not share the gospel when we are prompted to do so. And after all, which side is it better to err on…that of over-sharing and seeing as many souls to paradise as possible, or that of under-sharing and bringing the blood of some on our heads. No sir, your argument is faulty.

Comfort: Well, at any rate, God didn’t intend for our walk to be uncomfortable. Let us take it easy and recline in the balm of Gilead.

Chris: Once again I find your theology flawed. The comfort you speak of is the comfort of knowing one’s soul is redeemed from eternal fire, not the comfort of a luxurious life. For physically the Christian life is the hardest. Jesus said that his followers must leave everything for Him, and He, the Lord of Christianity, had no place to lay His head, and was executed brutally by the Romans. And as He so correctly observed, no servant is better than the master. If they persecuted Him, how much more should we expect it?

Comfort: Your views are very narrow-minded, but as I can see that your opinions are formed exclusively by the Scriptures (mine are not, you see), I shall stoop to use your own darts against you. Solomon, the wisest man said, "Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?"

Chris: Again, your shallow comments betray a skewed knowledge of the Scriptures. There are two things to be considered here. 1. That this man fell into great iniquity because of a lack of righteousness. 2. The danger is in self-righteousness like that of the Pharisees, not in genuine heart-righteousness. It takes "all diligence" to keep our hearts so to think that we may be over vigilant and over pure is naïve at best.

Comfort: I fear that we are not making very good comrades. I shall go and find another spot to rest and pray that God gives some sense to busybodies like you.

After Christian had soberly warned the man Comfort of his danger if he remained very long off the path, Christian moved on, plodding toward the Celestial City.

Reality Strike!

Should it be illegal to spank your kids?