The Difference in the Death of Two People

I was informed of the death of two people today. One is Michael Jackson, the "King of Pop". The other is Christopher Leggett, an American working in Mauritania. The former will be talked about, the latter will remain unknown but to a few. Both are before King Jesus and have to give account for the life they lived in this life.


The BBC gives the report of Leggett's murder by Al Queda Maghreb in this article.

Happy Father's Day! My Gift: A Little Book

Mars Hill Church is offering a free book to all fathers. In their usual manner, they've designed a cool website to distribute the book. It's called Pastor Dad: Scriptural Insight on Fatherhood.

Having Some Laughs at a Convention for Secretaries

Stéphane and hundreds of women in the same room. Occasionaly I bump into a suited male. I sat through a conference on note-taking and was the only guy sitting in the room. What shall I say? Life is hard, but someone has to live it. No seriously, I'm surprised to see so many secretaries for a convention. Most seem quite old and are looking for all the training they can get. I think the girls from my class are the youngest attendees.


On a side note, I found a great job opportunity. And even if it doesn't turn into a job, it would make a great scam. There was a bald, well-dressed middle-aged man drawing a large crowd around his booth. With a professional camera, an iMac, and photography equipement, he was offering his "coaching" services. He claims that his coaching allows people to project the image they have of themselves to the world. In other words, your self-image meeting what others think of you.
I'm not saying his services are great, but boy was he drawing a crowd! Coaching has a lot of potential. Image the hundreds of women that will meet him today. He takes some photos of them and then takes their email addresses to send more information. You don't need a lot of clients and the future is bright. There's never been such an image-conscious society.

Nathan Talking About Jesus in French-Class

Nathan is one of the staff working at BLF Europe. He shares with us a little glimpse of life in France and the daily morning French-classes. Recently, the topic of religion was brought up and Nathan was asked to explain (in French) Christianity's beliefs.

Recapping the Short-Term Missions Blog Series (by Abraham Piper)

Posted: 29 May 2009 11:19 PM PDT (Author: Abraham Piper) We thought it might be helpful to collect all the posts from this week's short-term missions blog series in one place: Rethinking Short-Term Missions The Effect of Short-Term Missions on Poverty We Need Them at Least as Much as They Need Us Teaching as a Short-Term Missions Strategy The Importance of Doing Missions as Servants We received a lot of good feedback from readers including this: I've seen some disturbing trends form…. Volunteers are now dictating to the field what they will and won't be doing on their trip instead of being instructed by the field as to what is needed. We missionaries have allowed this…usually under pressure from sending or supporting agencies for an increase in volunteer activity. The short-term mission trip has become sort of a spiritual merit badge that churches collect…I've actually had leaders, on several occasions, tell me my projects weren't exciting or flashy enough. On the flip side, the teams that come willing to do whatever and are ready to share their faith blow my socks off in the way they glorify Christ during the span of 5 or 6 days. I pray that we can put the short-term mission trip back into the proper perspective because they can be such wonderful tools for advancing the Kingdom. I hope a lot of leaders will…be challenged and energized to make their short-term mission trip everything it can be for Christ and the sake of the gospel.

Book Review of Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Bresheare

This isn't the indepth kind of book review. I don't have the time, nor the desire for that. Instead, I just wanted to mention reading this book and what I liked about it.


A quick review
If you haven't heard of Mark Driscoll, you must live in a log cabin somewhere in Russia (as I've been for the past three years). All I can say is that God is using this guy. He's still a bit young on the job (a church-planter), but he's gifted and he's working on the humility part.


If you haven't heard of Jesus, you really need to. I know, what an original book topic: Jesus. But you know what? Mark and Gerry really pull it off! This is a great book about the greatest and most controversial man who's ever lived. Now for those who like reading religious books, let me warn you, this isn't for you. This is a deep book, but written with everyday words and some of the better parts are occasionally (seemingly) irreverent.


For your information
I would love to see a book like this come out in France. Of course, the media coverage would be a hard thing to get. But what ran through my mind was all other. I haven't heard of a French equivalent of Driscoll. You need someone with charisma, broad shoulders and loads of talent to pull off a book like this. I'm praying for such men in France.

What other books about Jesus have you found remarkable?


Buy the book on Amazon

Books, Where and When I Read Them

As I was going through the routines common to all men, I had a laugh. I really have books everywhere. It's almost obsessive compulsive. I'm not sure what is the limit, but you can tell me.


Francis Schaeffer's Christian Manifesto in the bathroom. Alcorn's Purity Principle in my school bag. The Deliberate Church, The Power of Mentoring, Mornings and Evenings (Dever/Alexander, Martin Sanders and Charles Spurgeon) at my bedside.
A New Testament in my coat pocket, a cheap Bible (1€50) always at hand and various books by John Piper can be found everywhere (did I mention how much I loved God is the Gospel?). From my bedroom, to the top of the stairs, the door and everywhere in between (almost), you can find books. Then there are the newspapers and magazines.


Most evenings, as I crawl into bed, I'm too tired to even read the growing pile of books. On top of all that, there are many books that BLF asks me to evaluate (and I gladly do). I recently read Vintage Jesus AND Vintage Church by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears. Both were good.

The Importance of Doing Missions as Servants (by Mike Stachura)

To finish our series on short-term missions, we go to “Seven Principles for Highly Effective Short-Term Missions” by Mike Stachura of Operation Mobilization. He points us toward the importance of a Christ-like attitude as we move out to serve those in need.

Nothing is more damaging to cross-cultural missions, short-term or long-term, than a patronizing, paternalistic attitude.  Paul came determined not to present himself, but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  As for Paul, he wanted to be known as Christ's bondservant. A servant's spirit starts in the home church or group with a willingness to do whatever is asked. It is reflected in the team life where all members are willing to take their share of the workload. It means esteeming others, particularly national Christian workers, as better than ourselves.

As we prepare to go and serve this summer, let’s humble ourselves and ask the Lord to change our hearts as we meditate on his sacrifice for us.

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:3-8)

May God grant you fruitful and joyful service in short-term missions!

So Operation Mobilization does have some thinkers after all. No seriously, I love OM, but I often wonder if we've forgotten that people have gone before us and have things to teach us. I really recommend Mike's seven principles. They may appear obvious, but their not. Nope not even for you. Thats right, you.

Teaching as a Short-Term Missions Strategy (by Bill Walsh)

Day four in our series on short-term missions. David Livermore has written a book on this topic that we highly recommend, Serving with Eyes Wide Open: Doing Short-Term Missions with Cultural Intelligence.
In "American or American’t: A Critical Analysis of Western Training to the World," he addresses a  particular application of the short-term missions strategy: Teaching.
Some say that globally 85% of pastors have had little to no theological training whatsoever. Here at DG International Outreach, we are partnering with an increasing number of ministries using an informal, short-term approach for training pastors in developing nations.
David has some provocative analysis aimed to make us more aware of our cultural blind sides. This longer article is essential reading if you are focused on theological training of church leaders in developing countries.

Indigenous expressions of Christ’s Church exist in every geopolitical nation of the world. The entrepreneurial drive of American culture infiltrates our missions endeavors and therefore spills over into our cross-cultural leadership development initiatives. When we hear about the relentless growth of the global church, we’re inspired to bring our value-added contributions. But while the North American pastors consistently talked about urgency, the nationals consistently talked about the importance of process and of taking time to grow in relationship before developing a strategy for the kinds of collaborative exchanges that are truly needed for mutual benefit.

Absolutely. Teaching AND of course keeping a learning heart as you do so. Just because someone is not theologically trained doesn't mean he's stupid. SPK

We Need Them at Least as Much as They Need Us (By Bill Walsh)

Still following the posts on short-term missions. Everything is already online at Desiring God. But I'll still post it here in the next few days.


On day three of our series on short-term missions, we turn to Andy Crouch, author of Culture Making, for an article with some unique twists, "Unexpected Global Lessons: How Short-term Mission Is Becoming a Two-way Street."

[T]he whole apparatus of preparation for short-term trips assumes that the reason Americans invest their time and treasure is to do something for others—to check off a list of activities that will supposedly help advance the gospel. In fact, it is the rare short-term team (with the notable, partial exception of medical and dental missions) that brings such unique skills and cross-cultural sensitivity that they can make a net contribution in their brief visit. Our counterparts in the developing world are more resourceful than we imagine—and we need them at least as much as they need us.