Tag: America

“Which None Can Shut: Remarkable True Stories of God’s Miraculous Work in the Muslim World” by Reema Goode

~ Bob Hayton ~ 3 Comments

From the time I was a little boy, I remember being fascinated with missionary stories. I’d find the country on a map and visualize myself going to that distant land with the Gospel. Africa, South America, Asia — all were equally enticing destinations. On-screen slide projectors introduced me to the mud huts, shacks and cardboard cities of extreme poverty, to exotic animals, tropical paradises and beautiful vistas, and most of all, to the faces of people who need Christ. In my background, however, I can’t remember many tales of missionaries to Muslim countries. Closed countries were just that, and with the response to the Gospel in more reachable lands, the prospect of outreach to Muslims wasn’t raised.

My experience is certainly not unique. It is only in the past 20 years or so that missions to Muslim-controlled nations have become the dream of Christian young people. A dream and a reality. Two American wars in Iraq and the constant Israeli-Palestinian conflict, have kept the Middle East, and its Muslim religion, at the forefront of our global vision. And many American Christians have taken it upon themselves to pray for the advance of the Gospel (not the same as the success of America, mind you) in these dark lands.

That I call Muslim-dominated lands “dark” is not a popular sentiment in today’s pluaralistic age. But the Gospel of Jesus Christ is about spreading the light. And Christian missionaries have laid down their lives to spread that wonderful story of Jesus throughout the ages and all over this world. Sadly, many Muslims today mistakenly think Christianity is represented by America’s policies and the evil practices she tolerates. Such is not the case. True Christians serve a Kingdom not of this world.

American Christians like me are beginning to hear of the inroads being made by the Gospel in Arabia and other such places. But what we hear is often only bits and pieces of what God is doing. For Americans in general, and Christians too, there remains a fear of Islam and a mystique to Arabia. Few are willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the gospel, and many don’t even know what missions to Muslims would even look like (here in America even, and especially over in a “closed country”).

A new book, shines a beacon on what God is doing in Arabia, and what it is like to be a missionary there. In Which None Can Shut: Remarkable True Stories of God’s Miraculous Work in the Muslim World Reema Goode (and I assume that to be a pen name) shares some of her real life stories of being an American woman ministering to Muslims alongside her family in an Arabian country. Along the way we share her joys and sorrows and come to know more clearly what it is to be ministering God’s love to Muslims in a far away land. The book is a breathtaking tale that is sure to elicit both praise and prayers to God for Him to do even more.

The book is a quick read, and the story moves along quickly. Goode shares the struggle of fitting in to a new culture, and her fear for her children. She describes the people and customs of Arabia well, and draws you into the story. Over and in all of the stories we can see God’s grace and His Spirit at work. God gives Reema and her husband just the right words to say, over and over again. Incredible opportunities to share the Gospel are commonplace, as the people of that land are curious to learn more about Christianity and life in America. Through the Eastern emphasis on community, and the sharing of one another’s lives, the people get to see what a Christian really is.

God’s miraculous power is seen too. Dramatic healings, protection in demonically charged encounters, and the beauty of conversion to Christ are all recounted. Testimony to God’s working in people’s lives prior to and apart from Christian missionaries is amazing as well. And the author insists these stories are representative of God’s work in many lands and many cities all across the Muslim world.

I couldn’t put this book down. And when I did, I was moved to pray more intently for the continued advance of the Gospel in Muslim lands. I fear that many Christians in America are more focused on the encroaches of Sharia law and Muslim suicide bombings than they are on the need these people have for Jesus Christ and the Gospel of God’s grace. May this book serve to elicit prayer rather than prejudice from God’s people.

I think the book could become a best seller and open the eyes of many Christians to the thrill of missions in general, and Muslim missions in particular. May God inspire many more Christians to follow Reema Goode and her family into Muslim lands with the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Disclaimer: This book was provided by Tyndale House Publishers for review. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

Pick up a copy of this book at Amazon.com or through Tyndale House direct.

Pay Your Taxes But Trust in Christ

~ Bob Hayton ~ 6 Comments

I recently posted my book review of Republocrat by Carl Trueman which makes the point that Christianity doesn’t have an exclusive bent to either of the major American political parties. Christianity isn’t American after all.

I thought I’d follow this up with a link to a fantastic post on the theme of Christianity & politics that I just found over at the Gospel Coalition Blog. It actually is about a month old now, but links to a 70 minute sermon on the topic from Mark Dever, who happens to pastor Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. (where both Democrats and Republicans meet to worship, mind you).

Here’s an excerpt from Collin Hansen’s post of the same title as this post. I encourage you to read the whole thing, and download Dever’s sermon to boot.

…God’s ways often surpass our understanding. We cannot manipulate him to baptize our pet causes. Read Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, a stunningly moving model of public theology written by a man whose true beliefs elude historians still today. No, actually read the speech and marvel at this man’s magnanimity after four years of shockingly bloody killing. He captured in this speech a mature political philosophy that shamed the many warmongers masquerading as pastors in both the North and South. Even today, the church cries out to God for him to raise up more pastors and theologians who can help the evangelical public understand that for all this nation’s blessings, Jesus Christ didn’t robe himself in an American flag.

My concern stems from experience working on Capitol Hill in partisan roles. When I struggled several years ago to distinguish between my theological beliefs and convictions on such matters as tax policy and federal bureaucracy, I needed an oasis where I could escape the withering heat of political campaigning. I found it in the community of Capitol Hill Baptist Church. Only here did I associate with anyone from the other party. Only here did I hear a message that would endure forever, long after everyone had forgotten any press releases or speeches I wrote. And when I returned on September 16 for a 9Marks Weekender hosted by the church, I found here again a refuge from the arguments that the world invests with undue importance. Indeed, I heard from senior pastor Mark Dever the best sermon I know on Christianity and government. Thabiti Anyabwile, who formerly worked with Dever, described the sermon as “a biblical theology of Christians and the state, at once full of unction, intellectually challenging, and affecting the heart. I’ve heard a lot of Mark’s preaching, but I don’t know that I’ve ever heard him better.”

While Dever may serve a church on Capitol Hill, he does not commonly address issues of Christianity and government so directly. But as an expository preacher working his way through the Gospel of Mark, Dever obligated himself to address Jesus’ teaching in Mark 12:13-17. In these days of overheated rhetoric and protest rallies, I pray that evangelicals will set aside 70 minutes to listen to Dever’s sermon. Much of the wisdom expressed here echoes the forthcoming book City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era, written by Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner, with a foreword by Tim Keller. We need to hear from the best evangelical thinkers about a faithful, biblical approach to politics. Perhaps I can help the cause by summarizing four pages of notes I scribbled from Dever’s sermon….

I’ll let you jump over to the TGC blog to read the rest. I might be looking to pick up that new book he recommended from Moody Publishers.

“Republocrat: Confessions of a Liberal Conservative” by Carl Trueman

~ Bob Hayton ~ 7 Comments

Sacred cows die hard. And tipping them is not just anyone’s game. When it comes to conservative American evangelicalism, there may be no cherished belief that needs to die more than its explicit allegiance to one political party.

An evangelical attachment to the history of America and to patriotism has colored its views on how the church should interact with the political sphere. And in the past few decades, with the meteoric rise of “the religious right”, the result has been an American version of Christianity which mixes zeal for conservative politics and Christian virtues. Along the way, a popular misconception has arisen on the part of secular and non-evangelical alike: the evangelical gospel is confused with a moralistic concern for “family values”.

Carl Trueman, a witty and winsome Brit, tackles this problem in a new book recently released by P & R Publishing. In Republocrat: Confessions of a Liberal Conservative, Trueman speaks from an outsider’s perspective on the political landscape facing American Christians today. He understands that some of his views will be frowned on from both sides of the American aisle, but he pushes forth in an effort to challenge the tendency toward a one-sided approach and overly simplistic view of politics which he sees as so prevalent in the conservative circles in which he ministers today (as dean of Westminster Theological Seminary).

Written in a witty and personal fashion, with a Brit’s sense and control of the English language, the book draws one into the discussion even as it disarms the would-be critic. I found it a quick and engrossing read, even if the argument seemed to overreach on some points. He offers pertinent and sometimes disturbing examples from recent political history to drive home his points, and in the end is quite convincing.

He starts out with a criticism of today’s “left”. He shows how originally the liberal concern for the marginalized and the poor spurred British Christians to political involvement and an embrace of classic liberalism. Since then, liberalism has grown to treat any perceived marginalization and threat to be equivalent with the real economic and physical problems, for example, that were caused by industrialization in the late 1800s. So the mother of an unwanted child is facing undue pressure to keep her child, and she along with a gay person who wants full acceptance by society both deserve the protection of modern liberals. Meanwhile, the true problems of poverty and economic marginalization which continue to plague our world get left behind in the posturing and the fuss over the more visible, concerns of today’s liberals.

He then moves on into the conservative kitchen, and tackles American exceptionalism, and the patriotic flavor of American Christianity responsible for such absurdities as The Patriot’s Bible. Where he really scored points with me was in his treatment of the Fox News channel. He drives home his point that no news media outlet can be completely unbiased. He also shows how the founders of Fox were moved by the almighty dollar, like anyone else in the secular world. His cautions on this point deserve notice:

When it comes to listening to the news, Christians should be eclectic in their approach and not depend merely on those pundits who simply confirm their view of the world while self-evidently using terminology, logic, and standard rules of evidence and argumentation in sloppy, tendentious, and sometimes frankly dishonest ways…. (pg. 56)

That the free market, capitalist system was a Christian concept derived from studying Scripture was one of the high points of my own Christian education. And Trueman takes aim at that whole idea. The system runs on good old fashioned, greed (which is actually sinful, mind you). And not just greed — discontent and dissatisfaction are built into the structure of our American economic system. The solution to economic hard times is for us consumers to show more confidence and fork out more money. And exactly how is this is a Christian concept, again? Let me allow Trueman himself to speak to this point more directly:

…we have no basis for absolutizing the social organization and the attendant institutions, practices, and values of our passing present than anybody in ages past. Feudalism seemed like the wave of the future when it was at its zenith, yet it has passed away, at least in the West. European imperialism seemed set to dominate the world forever and a day at the end of the nineteenth century, but along came two world wars that put an end to that notion…. (pg. 67)

Viewing our system as the best there ever was, is also a bit evolutionary in nature, Trueman contends. Somehow man has figured everything out now and our system is the best hope for the world. We need to liberate the world from their a-capitalism, and bring salvation by means of the free market.

He rounds out the book by discussing how democratic politics in our modern age are positioned such that every difference between the parties has to be emphasized and enlarged so that they can gain power. Careful, nuanced political debate is not served by today’s sound bites and smiling photo ops, either. Trueman’s postscript argues that the abortion issue doesn’t have to be the be-all, end-all political issue for Christians in a fallen society like ours. He says, “It seems clear that the democratic legislative path to reducing or even outlawing abortions is proving remarkably unfruitful…. following from this… is there any point in allowing the matter to be the make-or-break issue on which individuals make their voting decisions at election time?” (pg. 106). He argues that incremental change can be pursued within either party, and before abortion will be outlawed a majority of Americans need to view it with distaste.

You won’t appreciate, or agree with, all Trueman’s concerns, but you will be challenged to think about what role the church should have in the political sphere. Should a church side with the conservative agenda so explicitly that non-conservatives are unwelcome, even if they also believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ? I think not. And if you pick up Trueman’s short book (only 110 pages), I suspect you’ll at least admit this much by the time you’ve read it. The Church of Jesus Christ should be wide enough to accept Christians of various political persuasions. The gospel, not politics or national pride, should unite us.

I want to close with an extended excerpt from Trueman’s conclusion. I don’t want to steal his thunder, but I feel this is the best way to give Trueman the hearing he may need for you to actually pick up his work and give it a listen.

Christians are to be good citizens, to take their civic responsibilities seriously, and to respect the civil magistrates appointed over us. We also need to acknowledge that the world is a lot more complicated than the pundits of Fox News (or MSNBC) tell us…. Christian politics, so often associated now with loudmouthed aggression, needs rather to be an example of thoughtful, informed engagement with the issues and appropriate involvement with the democratic process. And that requires a culture change. We need to read and watch more widely, be as critical of our own favored pundits and narratives as we are of those cherished by our opponents, and seek to be good stewards of the world and of the opportunities therein that God has given us.

It is my belief that the identification of Christianity, in its practical essence, with very conservative politics will, if left unchallenged and unchecked, drive away a generation of people who are concerned for the poor, for the environment, for foreign-policy issues…. We need to… [realize] the limits of politics and the legitimacy of Christians, disagreeing on a host of actual policies, and [earn] a reputation for thoughtful, informed, and measured political involvement. A good reputation with outsiders is, after all, a basic New Testament requirement of church leadership, and that general principle should surely shape the attitude of all Christians in whatever sphere they find themselves. Indeed, I look forward to the day when intelligence and civility, not tiresome cliches, character assassinations, and Manichean noise, are the hallmarks of Christians as they engage the political process. (pg. 108-110)

Disclaimer: This book was provided by Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing for review. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

Pick up a copy of this book at Westminster Bookstore, Amazon.com or through P & R direct.

The Gospel or Glenn Beck?

~ Bob Hayton ~ 6 Comments

There may be a lot of good that conservative politics can offer America. Unfortunately for the Church, it can muddy the waters and make the Gospel message less clear.

I came across a fantastic small post written by author Nancy Guthrie over at The Gospel Coalition Blog. I wanted to share some of it here for your benefit. She writes it in the form of an open letter to her pastors.

…what prompts me to write to you. What prompts me to write is a statement Beck made on August 30 in an appearance on Bill O’Reilly’s show, when he cheerfully celebrated that “240 pastors, priests, rabbis, and imams on stage all locked arms saying the principles of America need to be taught from the pulpit.”

As I’ve continued to think about this statement, I’m moved to write today and say “thank you” for not being one of them. Thank you for your faithfulness in preaching Christ from the pulpit, not “the principles of America.” Thank you for leaving that to others and reserving the sacred desk at our church for preaching, in the last few weeks, about the once-for-all sufficient sacrifice of Christ, about the privilege we have to approach God in prayer as Father, about Christ as the Wisdom of God, about Christ as the most valuable Treasure in the universe, worth trading everything to have.

I love my country and certainly I have concerns about where it is headed. But I also know that “this world in its present form is passing away” (1 Cor. 7:31). I know””as you quote it week-by-week””that “all men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever” (1 Pet. 1:24-25; cf. Is. 40:6-8).

So thank you for continuing to preach the word of the Lord and present the beauty of Christ, and for not being so short-sighted to preach the “principles of America.” You keep calling me to love Christ more than my country, more than anything, and this is the word I need most to hear.

I encourage you to read the whole thing over at TGC and to check out Nancy’s bio. What do you think of her main premise?

Apparent Danger: The Pastor of America’s First MegaChurch and the Texas Murder Trial of the Decade in the 1920s

~ Bob Hayton ~ 3 Comments

I recently received a copy of Apparent Danger: The Pastor of America’s First MegaChurch and the Texas Murder Trial of the Decade in the 1920s a new book on J. Frank Norris by David Stokes. Being familiar with the history and big figures of American fundamentalism, I knew something of J. Frank Norris’ infamous legacy.

Norris is the embodiment of a brash, fightin’ fundamentalist, and he packed a gun to prove it. I never realized that he actually was on trial for murder soon after the nation was riveted on the Scopes Trial!

Stokes has done his research and brings J. Frank Norris and his era to life. I’ve started reading through this book, but was just made aware of some fantastic news. The book has been grabbed up by a major publisher and will be re-released under a different title next year.

This is good news for those interested in the tale. The books are still available for another 2 weeks, and they are at a fantastic discount.

I encourage you to pick up a copy at this incredible steal of a deal. The book is a high quality, hardback. Take a look around the book’s website: apparentdanger.com for more on the story and the book. Congratulations to David Stokes, this book looks to be a page turner, and a wider distribution will shed light on a fascinating corner of American and church history.

David Stokes writes a weekly column for Townhall.com and is also a busy pastor, and you can learn more about him here or on his blog.

Disclaimer: I received this book free from the publisher for review. I am under no obligation to provide a favorable assessment of the book.