Author: admin (Page 39 of 212)

For English Version – Click Here

Миссия берет своё начало в сердце Бога. Бог – это источник посылающей любви. Это и есть глубочайший источник миссии. – Дэвид Бош

Latin: missio, missionis

Определение:

1. Роспуск, увольнение, отставка (солдат)
2. Миссия, послание, посылание, поручение
   

Наш Творец – отправитель, посылатель. В наше время миссионерский фокус, как на бумаге, так и на практике, сосредоточен на верующем. Миссионеры пакуют свои чемоданы и «отправляются» (либо же «их отправляют») в определенное место, чтобы делиться благой вестью о Христе Иисусе. Однако исторически этот фокус на миссии был вовсе не на том, как в человеке отзывается Евангелие, а на самой отправляющей (посылающей) природе Бога.

Нам необходимо вернуть концепцию посылания и следования обратно к её миссийным корням, к сердцу Творца.
Рекомендую вам как следует покопаться в Библии, проследить эту тему и обнаружить, что она является общей и ключевой темой, которая всплывает в контексте Творца в творении. Бог вступает в бой, Он планирует, выполняет, посылает и получает, как Генерал в битве вселенского масштаба.

Давайте рассмотрим повествование Писания и его основных героев:

• Пророк Илия (4 Цар. 2:11-12)
  • ПОСЛАН от Бога
  • снова будет ПОСЛАН перед пришествием Мессии (Мал. 4:6)
    
• Иоанн Креститель (Мф. 17:3, 10-13)
  • ПОСЛАН от Бога
  • по словам Иисуса и был Илья (Дух)
    
• Иисус, Сын Божий (Ин. 5:23-24, 37, 38, 11:42, 12:44-45)
  • ПОСЛАН от Отц
    
• Иисус пообещал, что ПОШЛЕТ Святого Духа (Ин. 14:26, 15:26-27, 16:7, 17:8)
  • ПОСЛАН на Пятидесятницу (Деян. 2)
    
• Посылает учеников (Ин. 17:18-21, Мф. 28)
  • ПОСЛАНЫ, чтобы участвовать и расширять служение Иисуса на земле, как люди завета.

О чём вообще это «посылание»? Если вы проследите эту тему в Евангелиях, то обнаружите, что это ключевая тема жизни и слов Иисуса. И я лично задаюсь вопросом, как же так получилось, что бОльшую часть жизни я проходил мимо безошибочной реальности страниц Писания?

«Я в них, и Ты во Мне; да будут совершены воедино, и да познает мир, что Ты послал Меня и возлюбил их, как возлюбил Меня». Иисус из Назарета (Ин.17:23)

Миссия Творца должна была прийти к Его творению в качестве Личности – в Иисусе. «Верить» означает не просто признавать существование Иисуса, или даже что Он умер на кресте, но постичь верой то, что Иисус был ПОСЛАН самой ПРИРОДОЙ Отца. Верите ли вы, знаете ли вы лично, что Бог вочеловечился – невидимый вечный Бог вселенной оделся в плоть (Кол.1:15) – был ПОСЛАН, чтобы открыть, разъяснить и дать форму самой природе Бога (Евр.1:1-3). Иисус, Тот самый Иисус, Который ходил по земле 2000 лет назад, существовал еще до творения, и через Него всё было создано (видимое и невидимое!).

Позволяете ли вы совершенному Божьему откровению в Сыне восторжествовать над всеми вашими религиозными верованиями и господствовать над вашими мыслями о Боге? Иногда мне доводится слушать верующих, которые представляют себе Бога, Который совершенно не похож на Иисуса из Писания. Свобода и освобождение, радостное (а не продиктованное страхом) подчинение приходят тогда, когда характер и личность Творца основана на неизменной и явной любви Христа. Бог пришёл, чтобы показать Свою природу, направленную на отношения; чтобы открыть Своё сердце, которое ищет ту самую одну потерянную овцу.

«Бог, которому поклоняются христиане, любит грешников, исправляет поломанных, наслаждается вторыми шансами и новыми началами, никогда не устает в поисках пропавшей овцы, ожидает блудных детей, либо спасает побитых жизнью и оставленных на её обочинах.» – Дэвид Бэннер

И наконец, в Деян.2:33 мы видим излияние Святого Духа, осуществление обещания Отца. Святой Дух представлен, как дар, ниспосланный от Бога. Этот проект посылания Бога-Творца на протяжении всей истории Писания не останавливается на посланном Христе, а уже на посланных людях. Чтобы приобщиться к сердцу Творца, жаждущему отправлять с миссией, мы должны получить Его дар: тот самый Дух триединого Бога. Без этого обещанного Помощника, пребывающего в нас, мы – «медь звенящая и кимвал звучащий». Мы должны познать Его любовь, чтобы быть способными её отдавать. Но в нас нужно сперва влить, чтобы из нас потом изливалось. Это приходит от веры в то, что Иисус был, есть и будет вовеки Божий посланный Сын.

Чтобы войти в союз любви Троицы, это и являлось посылающей целью Творца для Его творения на протяжении веков. Верующие – это те, кто не только признают чудо Божьего воплощения, но верой переживают эту любовь и сегодня.

Именно поэтому я #missiodei в социальных сетях. Это стало глубочайшим желанием моего сердца, моим мировоззрением, через призму которого я воспринимаю мир и взаимодействую с ним. Посылающее сердце Триединого Творца открывает Писание, находит наивысшее значение Сына, Который является славой Бога. Иисус открывает Бога иначе, нежели религия нашего времени. Бог не стоит за дверью истории человечества (что мы и видим в Иисусе), но Он активен, Он двигается, Он страстно изливает Свой Дух на всех, кто верит, что Он был послан от Отца.

И это, я верю, является самой хорошей новостью, которая у нас есть для этого мира. Все, кто верит, что Иисус пришел от Отца, познают сердце Творца, Его красоту, суть отношений в Троице, основанных на любви. Каким прекрасным Богом мы можем делиться с потерянным и поломанным человечеством вокруг нас! Это не набор доктрин, это сама природа Бога, которая открывается исключительно через посланного Сына. Получив посланный дар Духа сегодня, мы созидаемся, мы достигнуты, мы найдены!

«Сия же есть жизнь вечная, да знают Тебя, единого истинного Бога, и посланного Тобою Иисуса Христа.» Ин.17:3

“For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.”

Romans 8:20-21 (NIV)

Mr. Calvin wrote, “there is no element and no part of the world which, being touched, as it were, with a sense of its present misery, does not intensely hope for a resurrection.” (Commentaries Chapter 8).

I started this morning with a devotion on the perfect law of liberty (James 1:25, 2:12). How did I end up with a passage on fallen creation? Coronavirus, that’s how! 🙂

Every religion attests that the world is not as it should be. We have that in common. Christianity suggests it is cursed (Genesis 3:17-19), broken, suffering and longing with all its brief generational inhabitants for a future deliverance. The ground is thick with thistles, the heart of humanity quarantined in it’s self idolatry, separately from meaningful fellowship with our Creator.

I’ve been watching World War II documentaries this past week. We have not been evolving as a species, at least not morally. While the beauty of original design shines through the cracks, the present reality of a creation departed from original design mutes us existentially from its potential fullness. We, along with the machinery of our present creation are drudging along in our self-imposed structures, living for meaning, meaning to live.

This is the worldview of Christ followers throughout history, before the internet, before print. Our alienation from God is the context for Jesus first coming 2,000 years ago. God is One and yet reveals Himself as three personalities. Like concepts of eternity, this is beyond our mortal framework but is nonetheless what we must grapple with. This God creates a world for his crown creation to inhabit. We’ve rejected Him and inherited a deserved judgment – isolation from Creator, cursed in isolation from our deepest longings and wrestling with this grinding inward knowledge that all is not well. It’s why we are never quite happy enough, contentment is illusive.

We strive for purpose, we’re fearful, anxious, suppressing these feelings as best we can on the hamster wheel of life.

Some of us do a really great job and have managed a sense of oblivion within our matrixed quarantine from God. Is that a word, ‘matrixed’? (Such a great movie that sums up the Christian world view so well in my opinion!)

God is not punishing us, not directly. Humanity created this by rejecting His authority from the start. This freedom in the system, the interactive cause-effect loops were embedded to maintain the essence of liberty and love. God’s freedom within Himself was impregnated within humanity, but we chose to worship creation instead of Creator. The wheels have been in motion ever since. History is ripe with famine, wars, natural disasters, and yes, viruses and plagues. Whether this Corona global situation proves to be an over reaction, or a warranted time of distress, there’s nothing new here besides the technology of a global world to share in the collective anxiety and potential suffering.

Our hope? Jesus. His first coming rescued us from the law of sin and death and replaced it with the law of liberty! We follow now not commands written on tablets, but the Truth, the Person – and Jesus invites us to abide/live/be in His loving union as Father, Son and Spirit NOW in partial liberation from this fallen system.

We who believe and know the loving presence of Jesus have a taste now of what’s to come, and it is so GOOD!

What about Jesus second coming? He promised final redemption, renewal of this entire created order – but we were not told when. With generations of believers gone before we are”eagerly awaiting” (vs 23) our adoption and restoration. In my lifetime? Hope so. Would be amazing to see – but either way, Jesus reaches through eternity back to us, He’s been there, both sides, hand stretched out, and I’m grabbing!

“For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope” – Rom 8:25

We take refuge not in quarantining ourselves, but by trusting Jesus is our life now and forever. He has rescued us from a fallen and cursed quarantined world, set us free to abide in His presence for comfort, within the plurality of Himself. The world doesn’t need a message of judgement, because Jesus Himself didn’t come to judge a world already lost in confused chaos. His coming was a message of hope, a rescue from judgement and isolation from our Creator. He pulls us out of the confusion, places the moorings of our being on His stable, eternal, unchanging self.

Finally, what about the Christian response? Let your light shine before humanity in such a way that they may see your good posts, comments and likes – said Jesus never. Good works, faith in action, let’s love and point to the One who loves and use whatever means at our disposal to enter the suffering of those around us – if they don’t know freedom in Jesus, they, like us before freedom, were already quarantined.

“The fact that God has become man, indeed flesh, proves that the redemption and resurrection of the entire earthly world is not just a possibility but a reality.” Irenaeus

Keep Jesus center. Live your life as if everything He said was true and His resurrection will become the rock from which you build your life and prepare for the next. Avoid listening to vain, ego-centered preachers and so-called prophets who claim to know more than you or have special access to God’s knowledge. God is wise, and hides the revelation and beauty of Jesus to the humble who would never suggest such an elite status. (This last paragraph for my kids, as this blog is primary for posterity).

Latin: missio, missionis

Definitions:

1. dismissal, discharge (of soldiers)
2. mission, sending (away)

Our Creator is a sender. In modern times, the missionary focus both in writing and practice has been centered around the believer. Missionaries pack their bags and ‘go’ or are ‘sent’ to a particular place to share the good news of Jesus Christ. However, historically, this missional focus was not on the human response to the Gospel, but the sending nature of God.

We need to return the concept of sending and pursuing back to its missional roots within the heart of our Creator.

One need only poke around in their bibles with this theme to recognize a meta-narrative, a grand theme that emerges around the activity of Creator in creation. God is engaged, plans, executes, sends and receives, as a General in a cosmic battle.

Consider the Gospel narrative and it’s primary characters:

• Elijah the Prophet (2 Kings 2:11-12)
  • SENT from God
  • Will SEND again before Messiah (Mal 4:6)

• John the Baptist (Matt 17:3, 10-13)
  • SENT from God
  • Jesus says was Elijah (Spirit)

• Jesus the Son of God (Jn 5:23-24, 37, 38, 11:42, 12:44-45)
  • SENT from the Father

• Jesus promised will SEND Holy Spirit (Jn 14:26, 15:26-27, 16:7, 17:8)
  • SENT at Pentecost (Acts 2)

• Sends Disciples (John 17:18-21, Matt 28)
  • SENT to participate and extend Jesus ministry on earth as a covenant people.

What’s with all this ‘sending’? Trace through the Gospels and you’ll find it’s a major theme of Jesus life and message. I’m wondering how on earth I spent most of my life wafting over the pages of scripture with this unmistakable realty?

“I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” Jesus of Nazareth

Creators mission was to come to His creation, in the form of a Person – Jesus. To believe is not simply to acknowledge that Jesus existed, or even died on a Roman Cross, but to comprehend by faith that Jesus was SENT FROM the NATURE of the Father. Do you believe and personally know that God incarnate, the invisible eternal God of the universe wrapped in flesh (Col 1:15) was SENT to reveal, communicate and form the very nature of God (Heb 1:-1-3). Jesus, the same Jesus that walked on earth 2,000 years ago pre-existed creation and through Him all things were made (visible and invisible!).

Do you allow God’s perfect revelation in the Son to triumph over all your religious beliefs and take supremacy over your thoughts about God? Sometimes I read or listen to believers that paint a picture of God that looks nothing like Jesus from scripture. Freedom, liberation, and joyful (vs fearful) surrender comes when the character and personality of Creator is rooted in the steady, loving, unmistakable love of Christ. God has come to show his relational nature, His sending heart.

“The God Christians worship loves sinners, redeems failures, delights in second chances and fresh starts, and never tires of pursuing lost sheep, waiting for prodigal children, or rescuing those damaged by life and left on the sides of its paths.”

David Benner

Finally, in Acts 2:33 we see the Holy Spirit poured out, the promise of the Father fulfilled. The Holy Spirit is introduced as the gift sent from God. The sending enterprise of Creator God throughout the narrative of Scripture doesn’t stop with the Sent Christ, but a Sent people. To participate in Creator’s missio sending heart, we must receive His gift, the very Spirit of our Triune God. Without this abiding, promised Helper, we are clanging symbols in this world. We must know His love to give it. We must be poured into to participate in the pouring out. This comes from believing Jesus was, and is, and will be forever, God’s sent Son.

To enter Creator’s loving union in Himself, this was Creators sending purpose throughout the ages for creation. Believers are those who have not only acknowledged the miracle of God’s incarnation, but by faith are experiencing this love today.

This is why I #missiodei in social media. It’s become my hearts deepest cry, my worldview from which I perceive and interact with the world. The sending heart of the Triune Creator unlocks Scripture, finds highest meaning in the Son, who is the Glory of God. Jesus reveals a God much different than religion of our day. God, by evidence of Christ is not locked out of human history, but active, moving and passionately pouring out His Spirit upon all that believe He was sent from the Father.

This, I believe is the very good news we have for the world. All who believe Jesus came from the Father will know the heart of the Creator, that He is beauty and the essence of relational love within Himself. What a God we have to share to the lost and broken humanity around us! It’s not a set of doctrines to cognitively understood alone, it’s the very nature of God revealed exclusively through the sent Son, to be experienced! Receive the sent gift of the Spirit today, we have been created, pursued, found!

“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3

Life continues somewhat normally here in this 700 year old village. I drove by the market today, it was bustling with old folks and their bags full, or half full of essentials. I wondered out loud if they even know what is going on in the world. The ‘at-risk’ elderly were not deterred to go get their eggs, bread and milk. It’s the young hiding at home, obeying the rules and responding to fear. Some of these seniors have lived through WWII as children, right here in their backyard. They’ve seen governments come, and go, including one iron fist. A virus, a flu, whatever it is named, might not impressed them enough to break tradition.

A few masks down on main street. I wonder if they are sick, or just wanting a sense of safety. Our cafe wrapped up our 2nd day of ‘to-go’ only.. but hardly anyone came. I don’t blame them. Times are uneasy, the last thing you do is spend it on a coffee when you might not have enough for bread next week. We were however able to bless a few dozen folks with free drinks, we posted on social media if you come and say “God’s Health” in Ukrainian, a common expression when someone sneezes.. you were awarded with a warm treat for free. It brought some smiles – but we’re going to close up until this thing blows over – We are going to try delivery pizza, I think, this Saturday.. been thinking about that for a few years and now seems about as good as time as any to try it! It would be the very first type service in our town’s history, something still quite new even for Kiev. Sort of fun being the first at something..

Weather is warming up. Been nice watching our girls play outside. They are growing so quickly. Abbey’s teacher called today and said they have homework on Viber (Russian messenger type app). She’s been enjoying doing homeschool with the boys. Deb has ramped up schedules and expectations with the older ones. They seem to be adapting well to her efforts.

It’s hard to not be checking my phone every hour, wondering what new laws might be passing, and panic it might instill. So far the stores have food. Most of our neighbors have gardens, but it’s spring and nothing to eat yet. We’ve always joked the world could end around us and our little town would be just fine. I believe that to be mostly true but the problem is I don’t have a garden! I thought today about what skill or trade-able service I could offer the town if push came to shove and I needed to provide for our family. It was a humorous few moments as I considered a few things.. I could teach english, but who needs it if the West was wiped out economically and no longer the power it is? I soon realized many of the ‘talents’ I possess aren’t really essential to living. I don’t weld, I can’t construct, I’m not an electrician, butcher, I don’t cut hair or fix teeth. I am formed by the modern world, living on the backs of my predecessors. Oh, I can type fast.. maybe I could be a secretary.

I believe this event will reveal, when the dust settles, a new uncertainty. I wonder if that’s going to be a good thing. The West has felt so secure, systems immovable.. sort of lends itself to a false sense of superiority. Will there be more empathy among the rich? Will there be more of a collaborative effort among the global powers to work together, or will this move immediately to the blame game and heightened tensions? Time will tell.

I’ve been embarrassed by the Christian response online. “God knows” and other trite, well intentioned but callous religion floating around. Other believers ignorantly quoting ‘prophetic’ pundits who are anxious to cash in on some ego feeding and followership. Why do believers think asserting certainties encourages unbelievers? Loving folks is too hard for shallow religion, relying on parrotted ‘certainties’ without the embodied love in action only looks like we are trying to convince ourselves.. like someone clinging to their life vest and affirming its value as others drown around us.. ‘you should get one of these, look I’m not afraid!” How bold of you Christian! If only you were confident enough to give your vest to others, then, perhaps the world would take notice. The church grew in Acts as faith was met with sacrificial, generous, eternal focused love. It’s not bold to type things, it’s bold to be present, to come alongside and listen and love as the Spirit leads.

Thankful Brent and Bronwyn are in Canada with my parents. Borders locking up for the next few weeks or more. If you are going to be surrounded by a chronically anxious system, you may as well be with those you love! I feel the Lord rebuking and challenging me to pray, I have too been caught up in the sensationalism of this event. I know where my life is hidden, and it’s not in this world. There’s a supernatural love I think that can emerge through uncertainty.. there’s a vulnerability to come alongside our fellow humanity and care, give, support. I don’t know what this whole thing has been revealing in me – but I ask the Lord for grace to adjust and bear His name with more clarity.