GlocalNet

My next book will be release real soon, but I need your help! First, what do you think about the two cover options? Really, I want your help with this.  Cover A or cover B?

Also, the current tag line is “Impact the world for Christ right where you are” - I don’t like it.  It sounds too much like you don’t have to move with God to reach the world.  Here’s one idea I had - “Transform the world doing what you do with the love of Christ” I don’t know… Give me your ideas!

Today I head to Greenville, SC where I go to a service where Matt and Amy Travis will be commissioned.  I’ve known them over ten years and have enjoyed being around them and watching their family grow.  I’m incredibly excited for them and believe in them big time.  I believe God has great things in store for them.  Sooooooo as you begin this new adventure I give you something Bob Buford sat down with me years ago and showed me - it’s really good.  The more things grow and expand, the more you should really look at this - Hang in there - I believe in you - Bob

110bobbufordst3cliffnotes_102708.pdf

While I was in Madrid one of the statements I made was that we are living in a time when all religions are growing in all places.  There is growth of Islam in the U.S. and there is growth of Christianity all over the Middle-East.  What’s happening and why?  I believe there are two reasons.  First, it is happening because of migration.  Second, it is happening because the traditional historical existing religions are not providing answers for the problems of humanity which leads people to look to new religions for new answers.  Freedom of Religion - or whatever some may want to call it - will not be viewed as a “western invention” but as a necessity for living together globally.  For the most part, we in the West are being shaped by the East and learning from the other side of the world.  The concept of freedom of religion could be the greatest offering that Americans can make to the rest of the world.  No doubt, it can’t be a “western view” because anything that smacks of “America” is sadly rejected out of hand.  What we are talking about in reality isn’t freedom of religion, but freedom of thought.  Religion answers the question:  What is a man’s highest authority that determines his view and behavior?  If a man can’t own his own mind then he is the worst slave of all.  Do any of us want converts that have no choice?  Ultimately that undoes any faith.  I was with a very influential government leader of a very influential nation yesterday.  Our entire conversation centered on this issue.  His goal is to determine how to communicate this in his cultural context because all religions are now all over the place in his country and he has to deal with it.  I don’t think this is bad.  I think it’s good.  It’s good for Americans, because we have to think about our faith deeply and not merely what was handed down to us.  Ultimately, it will be a “purifier” and “cleanser” as to what we really believe and how we practice it and how we treat others that we disagree with that are our brothers and sisters in humanity, as one of my Muslim friends refer to all of us.  If the key to keeping America “Christian” is keeping Americans isolated and separated from other religions - then I would question …

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Jill, this is the little girl that cracks me up - she’s so sweet - sunglasses helps her worship!

This is “Zoom” - he’s one of the new exchange students from Hanoi - he turned 17 Sunday and we ate at a Mexican restaurant - he’s an awesome young man.  This year there are 9 from Hanoi - they’re all smart, sharp, promising, and we are glad they are with us!!!  He reminds Nikki and I a lot of Ti - he’s absolutely wonderfully crazy and funny!

Jill, here are some potential men who love God, are real Chineese but grew up in Malaysia - keep them on your potential possibilty list - don’t forget what I’ve always told you - marry Chineese - they are about to rule the world - and finish the Great Commission!

I LOVED Pepperdine University.  It’s not a university - it’s a resort!  It is on the cliffs of Malibu, California - wow - I’d never have made it there.  I’d be too busy hiking in the mountains or on the beach.  There was great response to my “talk” and afterwards I had a lot of college students come up talking to me about what they were looking at doing globally and how integrate their faith with it.  I also met some of the college kids who were involved in different global projects.  I really was blown away by the school and the student body.  Dr. Charles Hall is Dean of the international programs and he gets it.  He’s assembled a great team of people to drive his department.  We ate on the beach at some place called Dukes - we watched the dophins in the ocean and ate Mahi Mahi on our plate!  Thanks for a great time Charles. 

OK, I’ll write more serious blogs later - just catching up for now. 

Yesterday was quite a day!  Great prayer, great run, good study for my sermon Sunday and then off to meetings.  I wish I could tell you about my first meeting, but I can’t.  It’s too sensitive.  Other than to say there are people following Jesus all over the world who have paid dearly, been in prison, been beaten, and tortured, but still remain true.  I had lunch with one of them.  They are at the epicenter of a great movement of God in their country.  It doesn’t seem right that they pay such a price and, yet, live obscurity and are doing more to see the Gospel proclaimed and lived out than anyone close to it here.  As I was eating with them, and saw many people in suits having “power lunches,” I couldn’t help but think about how there was this “angel” in their midst but they were unaware.  It was incredibly humbling.

My next meeting was with Oleg.  I like this guy.  He’s 32, married and has a son.  He’s very smart. Has a PhD from Stanford ( I think), or somewhere like that—I may be wrong.  He loves God deeply. He teaches at a seminary in Moldova, and works around the world building relationships with Muslims much like I do.  It’s so cool. Here is this guy—we’ve never met—and, yet, our philosophy is so similar. God is saying the same thing to so many.  He’s here to raise money for his seminary. He needs just another 30K. Come on some rich guy reading this—email me and I’ll connect you! 

I’ve come to love Muslims and Middle-Eastern people a lot.  Like many Americans, many years ago I feared them. I do not anymore.  Sure, there are some nuts, but, then again, I’m from East Texas and we have our share there, as well! 

I’ve recommended this book before, but Paul Gordon Chandler’s “Pilgrims of Christ on the Muslim Road” is a MUST READ.  The person written about in the book is Mazhar from the Middle-East.  Mazhar is coming to spend a few days with me in August.  Thursday August 21, I’m looking at having a meeting for anyone who has read the book and would like to meet him and ask him questions.  It would be in …

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Stories of people engaging Vietnam for the first time from NorthWood always gets us jazzed!  We’ll let Steve tell you his story in his own words…

Steve
As a first time participant, I have learned more than I have taught and taken more than I’ve given. The leadership and coordination of the trip has been outstanding.

Two specific incidents reminded me of Father’s protection and our need to work without ceasing. First, we went swimming in the murky beach water four times. The first two times, I was assigned a young, rambunctious, wild boy named Huam. I called him Juan because it sounded the same and was easier to remember. The third time to swim I was late and he was taken by someone else. I admit, very ashamedly, that I was relieved. The fourth and final time to swim, I was running late and as I exited the hotel, everyone had gone except one boy-Huam. With a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes, I ran to Huam-he was waiting for me and me alone. How foolish and selfish I was to want an easier child to handle. He wanted me. In the water, Huam wanted to be left alone, he wanted no help, no guidance, no boundaries, but he wanted to know I was there. When he got in over his head, he grasped for me. Isn’t that the same way we are with Father, or is it just me? No help, no boundaries, no guidance-but please be there when I need you. Fortunately, He always is.

One of my recent new converts in Africa - it was a little difficult getting her baptized, but we did the job!

Luke 18: 8b   “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? ”
As I traveled this past week to Kenya, Africa with Bob Roberts, we walked through the largest slum in Africa called The Kibera—1.2 million people living in a 2 square mile plot of land.  We met with church planters that are planting churches in the middle of hell.  We joined our brothers and sisters in passionate prayer, exuberant worship and world class dancing in church—that’s right, they were dancing in church. They had very little on the outside. Their buildings were make-shift wood and zinc, tents, plastic chairs, horrible sound systems that punished your eardrums. Yet, I observed a vibrant and robust faith, a faith that was pleasing to God. Here in America, we have nice buildings, incredible sound systems, soft chairs lest we offend the backside of our overindulge lifestyle, but our faith is weak, feeble and anemic. Many times it is non-existent. Why do we need faith when we can do it ourselves? Will God find faith in America when He returns?  Are you living by faith in any area of your life? Are you drawing upon the supernatural resources of God for any area of your life, or is everything in your life very manageable by your human strength? By faith, Abraham went out not knowing where he was going? Not knowing is our curse. We hate not knowing because we are a culture of know-it-all. We have it figured out. We have broken the secrets codes and wrote the books to inform the world. They are not buying it. The other side of the world has figured out that all we do here in the west is talk. Like my grandma use to say “Talking is cheap but it takes money to buy whiskey. ” Don’t ask me about the whisky part—never understood it.  By Faith, Sarah received power to conceive, even when she was past the age. Faith not only calls us to the unknown but also to do the impossible! If it is possible for you to do it, then you do not need God.  Without faith, it is impossible to please God, and when God says it is impossible, trust me, it is impossible.

I’m kind of sleepy—just got off the plane from Kenya—at Heathrow for a couple of hours, then home to Texas.  I have to finish my fourth book in the next 30 days. Won’t be easy,  but I’ll get it done.  I’m excited about it.  I’m getting some really big boulders off my plate, getting into the new worship center, finishing the book, gathering a group of global leaders to network . . .  . At the same time, some things are warping up like never before. 

In some ways, this trip has changed the way I view some things that will impact what I write.  The challenge of all this will be bridging culture which translates into how people process, the pace they process, what they value, etc.  I’ve known Americans have a tendency to be ethnocentric of their culture, but so do other cultures as well. 

I think I’ve discovered the reason why church planting movements stay focused on a “tribe” or a “nation.”  It’s a lot easier to do your own thing in your own context, than to partner.  If you partner, your agenda has to die and it has to become “our” agenda.  THEN, once you agree on the agenda, even if you speak the same language, the words mean different things. THEN, you realize it’s not all about words but what’s not said, etc., etc., etc., etc. This stuff is complex—the mission is simple.  Not complex to do “my” thing, very complex to do “our” thing.   

In spite of all of that, I’m more convinced than ever the church will be global beyond merely existing in different tribes and nations. It will be connected. It must be connected.  Everyone talks about the “Unity” needed in the church.  Unity, for unity’s sake, will never happen.  Unity, because we should all be nice and love one another, will never happen.  Unity, because God has called us to a common mission and purpose, is the only way we will die to ourselves and come together. 

On another note, the Kenyan’s are pulling for Barak O’Bama. He was on the front page yesterday. 

On another note, just read The Post American World by Fareed Zacharia.  He spoke of how India is being influenced by China which promotes peace and stability that leads to development.  India’s last electoral campaign centered on that theme.  China …

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On pda so typing not pretty—concluded our meetings today. It is going to be a fun ride—been a huge learning curve for me—will write more later on all that. I came worried that I might be the biggest obstacle being American and from the West. I did my best to walk softly—hard being a Texican—When I’ve been with other cultures and gone deep, it was one culture at a time which allowed me to go fast or slow depending on the person and it’s never been that hard for me—-I also assumed it was harder for Americans to relate to other cultures—I was wrong—there were many cultural differences between others that were challenging——I was able to bridge some of it—mediate—this will be hard work but crucial work—we have to do this.

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