Open Heaven's Culture: Beyond Cross-Culture Life On This Planet Kindle Edition

Can you imagine doing “cross-culture” work and finding out that we have become changed as well as the person with whom we speak? David, for example, noted the importance of always being ready to communicate stories. Psalm 45:1 reads, “My heart overflows with a goodly theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready writer.” Rather than a top-down, sophisticated, culturally-correct approach to the presentation of a contextualized gospel, let us get the word out that we need hundreds and thousands of unassuming workers with unstudied talent. We need Western and non-Western workers who are willing to be dramatically changed and strongly contextualized in their biblical thinking. The vast majority of the world’s unreached are oral peoples (literate and non-literate), for whom the nature of communication is telling stories. Just talk. Just tell. Early on in the Gospels, we see what is required if we are to be followers rather than admirers of Jesus. The difference between the two is clear. Following Jesus requires repentance, turning away from the familiar to a training called discipleship. There is a change. That change is not a new set of beliefs plus a new set of behaviors. We are not Christians because of what we believe, but because we obey the call of Jesus: “Come, follow me.”JESUS DOES NOT want Christians. At least not in the sense of people who simply profess certain beliefs about him. As followers of Jesus, our beliefs cannot be separated from how we live. The temptation to separate Christian “truths” from the Son of God in Christ.This is crossing from our culture into the culture of Jesus Christ the Almighty. Spiritual Warfare must be applied, not just agreed upon. “Every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Christ, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them because the one in you is greater than the one in the world (1 Jn.4:3-4).” The first line of defense against evil spirits is to acknowledge that Jesus is from God by being born again.Moses was called to perform more extraordinary miracles than all of Pharoah’s miracles. Demons have power, though they are on a leash held by God. Satan has a perverted power to imitate the activity of God. Church people may be in a revival, but the church can implode when the leadership becomes domineering and controlling. Warfare is increased if we are domineering church leaders because it robs God of preeminence. Read more