With Jesus in suffering and joy

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Do you agree that the media seems to be reaching new lows of obnoxiousness? Reality TV shows, sitcoms, news programs (online, TV and radio), social media and political debates (see my letter last week)—they all seem to be growing increasingly annoying. And then there are the unscrupulous preachers promoting the prosperity gospel with false promises of health and wealth. In talking with a person who embraces this false gospel, I asked why the movement’s name-it-claim-it prayers have not brought an end to the world’s various crises: ISIS, Ebola, economic woes, etc. They replied that I was being annoying with my question. Well, I admit to being annoying at times, but my question was sincere.

Jesus, not prosperity, is the gospel

One of the times I truly am annoying (or so my wife Tammy says) is when I’m sick. Thankfully (for both Tammy and me) I rarely am. Part of the reason, no doubt, is that Tammy prays for my health. Prayer does have a positive effect, but the prosperity gospel falsely promises that if your faith is strong enough you’ll never get sick. It also falsely proclaims that if you are sick (or otherwise suffering), it is because your faith is lacking. Such ideas are a perversion of faith and of the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

A friend of mine told me about a tragedy that happened when he was quite young. He lost two sisters in an automobile accident. Imagine how his father felt when told by an advocate of the prosperity gospel that the two girls died because of his lack of faith! Such mean-spirited and wrong-headed thinking ignores the reality of Jesus Christ and his grace. Jesus is the gospel—he is the truth that sets us free. In contrast, the prosperity gospel sets up a contractual relationship with God that, through our actions, seeks to condition God to bless us. It also promotes the lies that the aim of life here and now is to avoid suffering, and that God’s intention is to maximize our pleasure.

Follow Me by Liz Lemon Swindle (used with artist's permission) — *Follow Me* by Liz Lemon Swindle (used with artist’s permission)

With Jesus in suffering

Throughout the New Testament, God calls his people to share with Jesus in both his joy and suffering. The suffering we’re talking about here is not the kind that results from foolish mistakes and poor choices, or from being a victim of circumstances, or from a lack of faith. The suffering Jesus experienced and which we are called to face in this fallen world is a matter of the heart. Yes, Jesus suffered physically as attested by the Scriptures, but the voluntary suffering he endured was largely the result of his compassionate love for people. Notice a few Scriptures that show his costly compassion:

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36)
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” (Matthew 23:37)
“Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
When he approached Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.” (Luke 19:41-42 NASB)
Jesus wept [following the death of his friend Lazarus]. (John 11:35)

Sharing in Jesus’ compassionate love for people often brings suffering, a suffering that sometimes is intense. To avoid all such suffering would mean avoiding loving others with Christ’s love. Such an aim would turn us into self-centered pleasure-seekers. And that is just what much of secular society brazenly promotes: Indulge yourself—you deserve it! The prosperity gospel adds to this unfortunate idea a mechanism falsely labeled faith—seeking to condition God into helping us achieve our hedonistic desires. The tragic, false teaching that we can avoid all suffering by rebuking it in Jesus’ name flies in the face of what the author of Hebrews says about the heroes of faith (Hebrews 11:37-38): These men and women were stoned, sawn asunder and killed by the sword. They went about in animal skins—destitute, afflicted and mistreated. And Hebrews declares not that they lacked faith, but that they were believers with great faith—people the world is not worthy of. Despite suffering greatly, they remained in word and deed faithful witnesses to God and his faithfulness.

Following in Jesus’ steps

Jesus, on the night prior to his greatest suffering (prolonged torture followed by crucifixion), said this to his disciples: “I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you” (John 13:15 ESV). Taking Jesus at his word, one of those disciples, Peter, later wrote this: “To this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21 ESV). But what does it mean to follow in Jesus’ steps? We must be careful here—Peter’s admonition is often too narrowly applied, leaving out, for instance, following Jesus in suffering (which Peter specifically mentions). On the other hand, the admonition is often too broadly applied. We are not called to mimic every aspect of Jesus’ life. Since we are not first-century Palestinian Jews (as was Jesus), we need not not wear sandals, robes and phylacteries in order to follow Jesus. Also (as the context of Peter’s admonition indicates) we understand that Jesus, as the Son of God, was and is unique. The wind, waves, demons, illness, bread and fish all obeyed his command as he performed stunning miracles that testified to his identity as the promised Messiah. Though we are his followers, he doesn’t normally give us that ability.

Yes, Peter does call on us to follow Jesus in suffering. In 1 Peter 2:18-25, he explained to a group of Christians who were slaves how, as followers of Jesus, they were to respond to the unjust treatment they were receiving. In doing so, Peter holds up Jesus as their example. He makes his point by quoting from the suffering servant passage in Isaiah 53 (see 1 Peter 2:22, 24, 25). Being sent by the love of God for the redemption of the world meant that Jesus would suffer wrongfully. He was innocent and remained innocent in his response to unjust suffering. He did not retaliate with threats and violence. As Isaiah says, “No deceit [guile] was found in his mouth.”

Suffering for the sake of loving others

Jesus suffered greatly, but he certainly did not lack faith. Quite the opposite. Out of compassion he came to earth—the Son of God become human. Out of faith in God and compassion for those he came to save, Jesus endured unjust suffering and refused to inflict suffering even on those who cruelly and unjustly tortured him. Such was his love and his faith. When we follow Jesus in suffering for the sake of loving others, we find a measure of relief and comfort knowing that doing so is an essential part of our calling. Note these two verses:

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. (Psalm 34:19 ESV)
Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Timothy 3:12)

When we see others suffering, we are filled with compassion toward them. When our love and God’s grace are rejected, we are grieved. Though such love is costly in that it brings on our suffering, we do not run from it—we do not cease to love others as God loves them. To suffer in order to love is to be a faithful witnesses to Christ. In that way, we follow his example—we walk in his steps.

With Jesus in joy

As we walk in step with Jesus, we will be participating with him in compassionately loving all people. Doing so will often mean sharing in his suffering. However—and this is a paradox—it also will often mean sharing in his joy—his joy that all humanity, in him, is redeemed, forgiven and included in his transforming love and life. Thus to follow Jesus is to actively and deliberately share in both Jesus’ suffering and joy. That is the nature of the Spirit-led, gospel-shaped life. We must not fall for a false gospel that promises all joy and no suffering. Sharing in both is part of our calling and essential to our fellowship and communion with our compassionate Lord and Savior.

Suffering but joyful too,
Joseph Tkach

Annual conference in Guadalajara

GCI-Mexico recently held its annual conference for pastors and leaders in Guadalajara. It featured lively worship, fellowship (lots of food!), and teaching sessions addressing theology, mission and women’s issues. GCI members and guests from Mexico came from as far away as Tijuana (north) and Veracruz (south). The guest speakers who came from the U.S. were given a warm Mexican welcome with mariachi music, folkloric dance, fine dining and sightseeing. Conference highlights included the ordination of GCI-Mexico’s first female pastor, and the announcing of the up-coming hand-off of supervisory leadership of GCI-Mexico from Lorenzo Arroyo to Heber Ticas.

Alfredo Mercado, GCI national leader in Mexico and lead pastor of the Guadalajara church, led the ordination of Irma Selena Venegas de Soto (pictured at right). Selena has been leading worship, teaching and preaching in the local church for some time. She also is an educator with a master’s degree and teaches at a private school. Selena and her husband, pastor Luis Soto, along with their children Alejandro (24) and Andrea (17), are long-time members of the Guadalajara church. Both Selena and Luis have a strong missional focus in their ministries, which involve gathering, evangelism and making new disciples. They currently are planning the planting of a new church in Guadalajara. Our congratulations to Selena!

During the conference, Greg Williams (pictured at left), director of U.S. Church Administration and Development, represented GCI president Joseph Tkach in announcing that Heber Ticas will be the new ecclesiastical supervisor for GCI in Mexico starting January 1, 2017. Heber, who will continue as U.S. national coordinator for Church Multiplication Ministries, will add the leadership role in Mexico ably filled for about five years by Lorenzo Arroyo. Heber worked at Lorenzo’s side most of that time, making for a seamless leadership transition. Our thanks to Lorenzo and congratulations to Heber!

Heber and Lorenzo — Heber (left) and Lorenzo

Heber will continue what Lorenzo began—leading the gospel work in GCI-Mexico in a Christ-centered, missional direction that emphasizes disciplemaking, growing churches and planting new ones. Plans are already in the works for Pastor Natanael Cruz and his Mexico City congregation to host an “Outside the Walls” (OTW) event in the future.

Greg gave the conference keynote address on the topic of church renewal and preached a motivating and uplifting Eastern Sunday sermon. Lorenzo’s wife Rita Arroyo (pictured at right with Selena), joined with Presbyterian pastor Rosario Salgado Cervantes in giving inspiring messages to the women. Rita also gave the women hand-crafted gifts that she had made, along with gifts from women involved in the GCI-USA Connecting and Bonding ministry.

Heber’s wife, Xochilt Ticas (pictured at right), led a devotional for the pastors and leaders and participated in missional workshops. Heber introduced Outside the Walls through a series of talks on mission in the community, and preached the Saturday sermon. Lorenzo gave talks on the theological and philosophical effects of dualistic thinking on western thought over against the unitary framework of Incarnational Trinitarian theology.

Thanks are extended from the members in Mexico to the churches and individuals in Canada and the U.S. who helped make this conference possible.

New developments in Myanmar

This update is from Rod Matthews GCI’s mission developer for Southeast Asia including Myanmar.

For years, GCI has had two small congregations in the nation of Myanmar. Then last year an independent network of churches requested to join us after the network’s supervising pastor, Chan Thleng, made contact through the GCI.org website, came to appreciate our theology, then met Wong Mein Kong, GCI’s coordinator for Southeast Asia, and lead pastor of our congregation in Malaysia. As a result of these multiple contacts, Chan Thleng has come to love our fellowship.

New doors have recently opened to us in Myanmar as a result of the recent historic elections (the parties opposed to the long-standing military regime gained a majority in parliament) and some other developments that I’ll describe here by sharing excerpts from Wong Mein Kong’s diary of a trip he and others recently made to the Myanmar cities of Yangon and Mandalay. As a result of their trip, we now have an expanded network of friends and fellow pastors to advance our part in the work of the gospel in the nation of Myanmar.

Wong Mein Kong’s diary

TRIP TO YANGON

Wong Mein Kong

We arrived in Yangon on Thursday (January 21). On Friday we met elder Naing Key Har at the hotel. I updated him on Chan Thleng’s group joining us. Afterwards Chan Thleng came to meet me and spoke of his plan for the church to generate income and support their church planter in Rakhine State. [GCI Malaysia] had donated some money for flood relief in Myanmar last year. In October he visited Chin State to distribute our flood relief to the affected churches. Chan Thleng has translated some GCI articles and our Malaysian magazine articles into the Matu Chin language to teach his group.

On Saturday morning we met with Kyaw Thu Min who has translated “The God Revealed in Jesus Christ” and another GCI booklet into Burmese. He and another friend are willing to translate our Discipleship 101 Course into the Karen language. In the afternoon we met Stephen, who had contacted the GCI website offering to translate material into Hakha Chin. He is a young man who teaches at a Bible school. Shortly after Dawt Lian Thawng and his wife Lily came. He is also a Bible school teacher who runs a children’s home in his house. Saturday evening [our friend from previous visits] Pastor Hung Ling came to fetch me to his Bible school in Shwepyithar to give a talk to 30 of his students. He is very thankful for the books and flood relief we donated.

Sunday morning we took a taxi to the village of Hmawbi about 40 km from Yangon to Chan Thleng’s church. I gave a split sermon with Chan Thleng translating. The church building has made progress, with walls and roof erected. We donated a box of clothing for the members. After lunch Chan Thleng and some of his leaders had a Q&A session with me. That evening Nyein Thu and Saw Ler Ghaw came to meet me. [Saw Ler Ghaw hosts a house church in the southern delta region.] We enjoyed fellowship and a meal.

Monday morning Chan Thleng and I discussed his proposed project. His church wanted to rent a piece of land a few miles away for three years. They will buy flower seeds for planting, drill a well onsite and install a generator to power irrigation. His church members have started planting and will harvest flowers from June onward to sell in the market. Here are pictures of their work:

Chan Thleng and I also discussed the possibility of me visiting Chin State later this year to meet his elders and members. That afternoon Dawt Lian Thawng took me to his home in Mingalardon where I met his wife and three children (they also house and feed 13 other children). I was asked to give a talk to them. His wife formerly taught in a Bible school but now she weaves traditional cloth designs to sell. He was impressed by GCI’s sincerity and that I was the first church leader to visit his Beulah Children’s Home. Tuesday morning we flew to Kuala Lumpur.

TRIP TO MANDALAY

On the following weekend I made a trip to Mandalay to meet pastor Andrew Bawi Ceu, who is about 45 years old and has three children. He has an MDiv degree, is working towards a DMin and is keen to learn more. He is taking one of our ACCM courses online with the intention of [exploring what is available that might eventually be offered in Burmese]. He strikes me as one with vision and ambition as pastor of an urban church that is active in outreach.

Sunday morning they brought me to their church located on the rooftop of a shopping mall. The attendance is over 100 (mostly young people), the worship is lively, led by a youth band. Among them are 35 students of Andrew’s Bible school. I gave the sermon with Andrew translating. In the evening I gave a lecture to his students and some teachers. Andrew expressed his appreciation for GCI, and invited me to visit again.

Additional developments

In the past few years we’ve had contact with a young, well-educated seminary graduate named Van Thawm Lian. He is excited about our theology and delighted with our literature. In the last year or two, we have contracted him to translate several publications into the Falam Chin language and into Burmese. As a result we have been able to distribute hundreds of copies of our Falam Chin edition of the Discipleship 101 Course to pastors and interested Christians in Myanmar. This past month, I received a message from him saying he wants to formally affiliate with us. His goal is to establish a Bible school in his home area in the Chin State.

After years of having to work with caution and limitations in Myanmar, we now see new doors opening, indicating that exciting times lie ahead as we are enabled to share the blessings God has given us with the people of Myanmar.

April Equipper: the refugee crisis

The April issue of GCI Equipper addresses how churches can join Jesus in responding to the refugee crisis and in ministering to children. Here are summaries of each article (click the title to read it online):

Syrian refugees in Hungary (via Wikimedia Commons) — Syrian refugees in Hungary

The refugee crisis: How can we respond?
– by Greg Williams
In 2014, nearly 60 million people were displaced from their homes and native countries by war… This global refugee crisis must not be ignored. But how can GCI congregations respond?

Nova’s story – by Nova Musafiri
I left my country in April 1993 because of security issues: students were arrested, beaten to death and tortured because of a dictatorial regime, which reigned for over 30 years. I did not have a choice, but had to escape in order to save my life.

Welcome home to Ottawa – by Fraser Henderson
For the refugees, despite the blistering cold and stark landscapes, there is one thing they can say about this new location they haven’t been able to say for years and sometimes even decades: they are home.

Helping a refugee family in Los Angeles – by Janet Morrison
The first time I saw them was at LAX—seven Congolese refugees…coming to a new world, a new culture. Though they had heard many things about the U.S., they did not really know what they were getting into. Neither did I.

Kid’s Korner – by Susi Albrecht and Nancy Akers
Children’s Church can play an important role in the lives of our kids. It’s a place to bond, learn and grow, while discovering what God has to say through the Bible.

Roger Lippross

This is an update on the prayer request from last week for Roger Lippross.

Thanks for your prayers for Roger. His wife Anthea sent us this update:

Roger thanks everyone for their prayers and concern for his recent stroke. He is doing okay. Given the extent of the stroke, it will be a long recovery. He is having therapy twice a day (physio, speech and cognitive). The doctors are pleased with his progress so far. The next week is critical regarding the swelling in his brain and possibility of another stroke. In spite of this he is very positive about the outcome.

Cards may be sent to:

Roger & Anthea Lippross
1015 Coto de Caza Ct
Beaumont, CA 92223-8522

Death of Lloyd Burgess

Lloyd We were saddened to learn of the death of Lloyd E. Burgess (pictured as a young man and then more recently at right). Lloyd was an elder in GCI’s Lancaster, California, church. Lloyd died on March 29. The day before he had been taken to the hospital because he was weak and having difficulty breathing. His pastor Raul Ramos met him there and found Lloyd in good spirits. Raul was shocked to learn that Lloyd passed away just a few hours after their visit.

Our brother in Christ will be greatly missed. Please pray for his wife Betty (who resides at a nursing facility) and his daughter Joanna. Cards and notes to the family may be sent to Joanna and Ken Mitchell:

Joanna and Ken Mitchell
3350 Twincreek Ct
Palmdale, CA 93551