Sense and Nonsense on Population

A breathless report on Yahoo News this evening: US population will hit 303 million January 1, 2008.  

The sky is falling?  Hardly.

I remember being convinced as a child that human beings would reproduce like rats and fill the earth.  

Bosh.

Read America Alone by Mark Stein for a different view.  

Better yet (and a lot quicker), look at the future world population calculator on www.poodwaddle.com.  If you experiment with it, you'll find that human population will drop starting in about 80 years, and if it continued to drop, we'll be out of people in about 505 years!

C. S. Lewis on Christmas, Part Two

A different C.S. Perspective on Christmas is found in the Father Christmas scene in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

C. S. Lewis on Christmas

Merry Christmas, and now a few words from the great C.S. Lewis on Christmas, from his God in the Dock (or as we'd say in America, "God on Trial."). This was penned many years ago, and needless to say, ours is not the first generation to fret about keeping Christ in Christmas, etc.:

Three things go by the name of Christmas. One is a religious festival. This is important and obligatory for Christians; but as it can be of no interest to anyone else, I shall naturally say no more about it here. The second (it has complex historical connections with the first, but we needn't go into them) is a popular holiday, an occasion for merry-making and hospitality. If it were my business to have a 'view' on this, I should say that I much approve of merry-making. But what I approve of much more is everybody minding his own business. I see no reason why I should volunteer views as to how other people should spend their own money in their own leisure among their own friends. It is highly probable that they want my advice on such matters as little as I want theirs. But the third thing called Christmas is unfortunately everyone's business.

I mean of course the commercial racket. The interchange of presents was a very small ingredient in the older English festivity. Mr. Pickwick took a cod with him to Dingley Dell; the reformed Scrooge ordered a turkey for his clerk; lovers sent love gifts; toys and fruit were given to children. But the idea that not only all friends but even all acquaintances should give one another presents, or at least send one another cards, is quite modern and has been forced upon us by the shopkeepers. Neither of these circumstances is in itself a reason for condemning it. I condemn it on the following grounds.

1. It gives on the whole much more pain than pleasure. You have only to stay over Christmas with a family who seriously try to 'keep' it (in its third, or commercial, aspect) in order to see that the thing is a nightmare. Long before December 25th everyone is worn out -- physically worn out by weeks of daily struggle in overcrowded shops, mentally worn out by the effort to remember all the right recipients and to think out suitable gifts for them. They are in no trim for merry-making; much less (if they should want to) to take part in a religious act. They look far more as if there had been a long illness in the house.

2. Most of it is involuntary. The modern rule is that anyone can force you to give him a present by sending you a quite unprovoked present of his own. It is almost a blackmail. Who has not heard the wail of despair, and indeed of resentment, when, at the last moment, just as everyone hoped that the nuisance was over for one more year, the unwanted gift from Mrs. Busy (whom we hardly remember) flops unwelcomed through the letter-box, and back to the dreadful shops one of us has to go?

3. Things are given as presents which no mortal every bought for himself -- gaudy and useless gadgets, 'novelties' because no one was ever fool enough to make their like before. Have we really no better use for materials and for human skill and time than to spend them on all this rubbish?

4. The nuisance. For after all, during the racket we still have all our ordinary and necessary shopping to do, and the racket trebles the labour of it.

We are told that the whole dreary business must go on because it is good for trade. It is in fact merely one annual symptom of that lunatic condition of our country, and indeed of the world, in which everyone lives by persuading everyone else to buy things. I don't know the way out. But can it really be my duty to buy and receive masses of junk every winter just to help the shopkeepers? If the worst comes to the worst I'd sooner give them money for nothing and write if off as a charity. For nothing? Why, better for nothing than for a nuisance.

---

Can We Trust the Nativity Accounts?

A scene from last year's The Nativity. They did a pretty good job on the Biblical and historical accuracy meter, maybe an 8 on a scale of 10.

An interview with the Archbishop of Canterbury, and his waffling views on the historicity of the nativity accounts in Matthew and Luke brings to the fore the question: can we trust the historical veracity of the accounts of Jesus' birth as found in the New Testament?

Here are the basic objections critics have regarding the nativity story:

1. Matthew's account and Luke's account are contradictory and incompatible.
2. A virgin conception is impossible, and a creation of later generations of Christians to buttress their faith in the divinity of Jesus.
3. The accounts are not grounded in known history.

The second objection, strictly speaking, is not an historical objection. It's a philosophical objection. A Christopher Hitchens would reply, yes, just as we'd be safe to object to to a claim that talking pink elephants rule Canada.

Now, I was a skeptic. True I was a teenager at the time, but the virgin birth never bothered me. It seemed to me that if God were real, he could (to use a phrase Mr. Hitchens might) do whatever the jolly He may care. It's a silly objection. It really is.

The first objection is a literary objection. Again, this doesn't strike me as very muscular objection because while on the surface they don't mesh, it's rather easy to reconcile the two. In other words, even though they tell the story in very different ways, they don't tell the story in ways that can't be merged.

The only substantial objection is the last: can it be grounded in history? And here the story does quite well. For example, places (Nazareth, Bethlehem, Jerusalem) and names (Mary, Joseph, Jesus, Herod, Augustus) are correct for the time period. Herod is an especially telling figure; his assault on the toddler boys of Bethlehem are exactly the sort of behavior we would expect of him, based on his historical portrait (in Josephus' Antiquities).

For a much longer (and much better!) examination of these issues, see Mark D. Roberts' extended discussion from back in 2004.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Dennis' Dog Stops Barking Up ABC Tree; TransMin on Missional Track

I noted that Dennis MacFadden posted today his intent to cease commenting on American Baptist-related issues, which is exactly what I would do were I in his position. I'm glad I had a part in the inspiration for His Barking Dog (which Dennis notes, thank you). I'm about where Dennis is in ABC-related matters. It's just not on my radar screen anymore.

BTW, during the thick of the ABC v PSW crisis, when DD was a source of breaking news, someone asked me, "Would you be blogging this if you were on the [PSW] board?" The answer is, of course not. Board members have a different set of responsibilities.

I can report that TransMin ends the year having met and exceeded their goal of 100 covenanting churches. (The 'covenanting church' status far exceeds the on the books membership standards that the ABC most denominations require, while not crossing the connectional church line.)

I hope to blog up something about the historicity of the Christmas story either later today or Monday morning. Tomorrow our daughter flies in from Florida and Sunday is off the charts busy (two services, baptisms, and a three-hour gift-wrapping outreach).

Missional Outreach at Big Lots: "Absolutely Free, No Strings Attached Gift-Wrapping"

Over 20 FBC members wrapped presents and chatted up customers at the Big Lots store within sight of the church. Here are some pictures (courtesy Philip Pan):

We had the advantage of Mandarin-speaking Philip Pan (Mr. Personality!) as well as several Spanish-speakers.


We offered free gift-wrapping from 3-6 on Sunday afternoon. We had about thirty families take us up on it and had about 5-6 substantive conversations with people as to why we were there: to freely serve as God freely loves.

On Sunday morning, we had a great attendance and gave away five guest boxes to newcomers. Keep praying that Christmas time will be harvest time!

Photos from Temple City Chamber of Commerce Meeting at FBC, Nov. 26

FBC hosted the November meeting of the Chamber of Commerce last Monday. Here are some photos, courtesy of Ralph Ramirez.

Greeting at the door

Good eats.

Miss Temple City.

If these are the bigwigs, how did I get into the picture?

If It's Not Actually in Scripture, We'll Find It Anyway

It's called eisegesis. It's the opposite of exegesis, the process of discovering the meaning of a Biblical text. An article in the U of Wisconsin/Oshkosh paper, the Advance-Titan, (below) is all about Erik Koepnick's reinterpretation of the story of Jesus healing the centurion's slave. Now we discover that the slave was the centurion's gay lover and ergo, Jesus is cool with homosexuality!

This all centers around his creative (or shall we shall destructive?) interpretation of the Greek word pais. It's funny how basic words get mangled in the gay theology machine.

In addition, it never seems to occur to Koepnick what a crime it would be for a homosexual centurion to make a slave into a "lover."

At least hat's off to the Advance-Titan's inclusion of Robert Gagnon's response to Koepnick's adventure in creative misinterpretation.

Oshkosh student seeks new significance in ancient text, personal faith

Kevin Kosterman of the Advance Titan

In the era of red states and blue states, where America’s cultural divide seems to be ever widening, homosexuality and religion could almost be considered polar opposites.
But for openly gay UW-Oshkosh religious studies major Erik Koepnick, these two worlds don’t just co-exist, they inspire him and drive him forward.
“I don’t think it’s a balance,” Koepnick said. “I think it’s all one and the same.”
Koepnick’s search for synergy has led him to spend more than a year researching the New Testament narrative “Healing the Centurion’s Slave.” His conclusion: Jesus knowingly healed a member of a same-sex partnership, passing no moral, social or theological judgment on the man’s sexual preference.
The actual passage accounts for just nine verses in the Gospel of Matthew — a mere drop in the Biblical ocean — but if Koepnick’s findings are correct, the implications are profound.
“Jesus never says anything about sexuality, but if there would be one place that he would say it, it would have been here,” he said. “If [denouncing homosexuality] was important enough to his ministry, he would have said that, and it would have been preserved with his story.”
Though details of the story vary by Gospel and translation — Koepnick said there are more than 250 English translations of the Bible — he said the parallels between the accounts in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke are striking. Because of these similarities and the story’s inclusion in the earlier Gospel Q, Koepnick concluded that the story originated from a strong oral tradition and was therefore true to historical Jesus.
According to the Scriptures, Jesus returned to Capernaum — following his Sermon on the Mount — when a centurion (Roman army officer) approached and implored Jesus to heal his ill slave. Jesus consented, but the centurion, being a Gentile, replied that he was not worthy to have Jesus come under his roof insisting instead that Jesus need simply say the word and the slave would be healed.
Jesus was so taken aback by the man’s faith that he immediately healed the slave.
Simple enough. But according to Koepnick’s research, there is much more to this story than the average miracle. The secrets, he said, lie in the details.
In the original New Testament, the Greek word “pais” is used to describe the ill person. “Pais,” Koepnick said, can be defined as “boy,” “girl,” “child,” “son,” “daughter,” “slave,” “handsome young man” and “beloved.” While he said most scholars agree that “pais” in this context refers to a slave, Koepnick asserts in his writings that clues in the hierarchy of Roman society present a more detailed definition of the word.
“Within slavery, every aspect of the slave’s personhood was controlled through ownership,” he wrote, “even sexuality.”
Koepnick furthered this claim with various historical records from the time in which “pais” specifically denotes a homosexual relationship. Homosexuality was a fairly common practice in the early Roman Empire, Koepnick said, especially in the ranks of the army where soldiers were not allowed to marry. It was likely, then, that the word “pais” was used to describe the centurion’s same-sex partner, he said.
Since Jesus was a citizen of that era and would therefore have been familiar with the language of the day, Koepnick argued, he would have been aware of the deeply affectionate sexual relationship between the two males.
“Yet he gave no commentary,” Koepnick wrote, “positive or negative, social or theological.”

Man on a mission

Erik Koepnick was raised religious, but he said there have been times that have tried his faith.
When Koepnick was in middle school, the American Baptist Convention of which he was a member began to allow gay members into one of its San Francisco congregations. Koepnick’s congregation voted to leave the American Baptist Convention rather than be affiliated with a denomination that allowed gay members.
“By that time I hadn’t really realized my sexual orientation,” he said, “but I knew that my religious orientation said that rejecting people from a church is not right.”
Koepnick said he came out to his roommate and family his freshman year of college and, after moving away from religion in high school, he was invited to join the Campus Crusade for Christ. But his newfound desire to understand where his own homosexuality fit with his religious ideology met with resistance.
“When I challenged my small group leader’s ideas, I was kind of shut out,” he said. “They moved the time of our small group Bible study and didn’t tell me. They stopped answering my e-mails and stuff like that. So I took the hint that this was not the place for me.”
Dr. Kathleen E. Corley, associate professor of religious studies at Oshkosh, was instrumental in encouraging Koepnick to pursue his research and securing a Student and Faculty Collaborative Research Grant. She said Koepnick’s research plays a pivotal role in harmonizing his identity with what he believes.
“It’s important for gays and lesbians in the Christian community who are looking for evidence of same-sex relationships in the Bible and looking for ways to use Biblical text to argue for gay liberation in the Church,” she said.
“I think there are Biblical passages that need to be dealt with in Christianity, obviously,” she said. “But they’re not impossible obstacles, and Erik has learned how to overcome those obstacles.”

‘The Lord is my shepherd’

Dr. Robert A.J. Gagnon, associate professor of New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, has written extensively on sexuality in the Bible including “Healing the Centurion’s Slave” and disagreed with Koepnick’s conclusions.
Gagnon contended that all references to sexuality in Scriptures are predicated upon the notion of a male and female representing two sexual halves merged into a sexual whole.
“Every single piece of legal material, every law, every proverb, every narrative, every piece of poetry, every metaphor that has anything to do with human sexuality in both testaments, always presumes a male-female pre-requisite [that] is absolutely bedrock,” he said.
Though Biblical acknowledgement of homosexuality is scarce, Gagnon said the book views same-sex relations as a dishonoring of the sexual self as created by God. He said he believes homosexuality is such a great violation of human sexual ethics, it doesn’t need to be addressed.
“There’s no reason even to ask why this is such a big deal,” he said. “If it’s not a big deal, then incest is not a big deal; polyamory is not a big deal. We might as well get on with it in society and begin issuing marriage licenses to persons of these modes of behavior.”
While Koepnick acknowledged that the Bible makes references to homosexual acts being an abomination, he said the message of the book, with its various translations and often-vague language, could easily be manipulated to further political and social agendas.
“It’s also an abomination to have a cheeseburger because it’s cheese and meat,” he said. “It’s an abomination to wear poly-cotton blend because it’s the cloth of two fibers.
“If you disobey your parents, you will be taken to the town gate and stoned to death. [Homosexuality] is one place where people still pick and choose, ‘All these other laws don’t apply, but this one does.’”
Finding oneself while embroiled in the often-conflicting worlds of homosexuality and religion can be an onerous task, one that Koepnick said he is prepared to undertake.
Koepnick plans on attending the Chicago Theological Seminary after graduation to become a reverend [sic] in the United Church of Christ. Corley said although finding a congregation that will be accepting of his lifestyle may be somewhat difficult, she thinks Koepnick’s research has helped him connect with his own personal faith on a deeper level.
“He’s a creative person and he’s looking for himself in the past in a way that is affirming to himself and his own individuality as a gay person,” Corley said.
Like the Biblical centurion of his research, Koepnick said he is prepared to stand at the crossroads of being and belief with only his faith to offer.
“It’s a hard life,” he said. “People put you through [explitive deleted] that you don’t deserve. And a lot of people base that crap on religion, which is ridiculous.
“My theology is that God made me, and I think that’s a common theology for people. The Lord is my shepherd and he knows I’m gay.”

A Rather Fun Opening Shot in the 2007 Edition of the Christmas vs. Happy Holidays War

Special thanks to Pastor Dick Sullender of FBC Monrovia, CA for alerting me to this quirky gem:

Images from Church Thanksgiving Dinner

Some images from our church Thanksgiving Dinner, which we took in a missional direction by emphazing our Christmas season outreach events and how members can get involved.


Dom Coe, Aubrey Oster and Christi Oster--part of the kitchen crew.

Karen and Michelle Ford. It was good to see Karen out. She's flying to Iowa next week to continue experimental treatments.


Ralph and Barbara Ramirez were in charge of the feast, and did a great job as always!


Marvin Bockie was joined by some of his out of town relatives for the dinner.

Ismael Felix setting up for sound. We did some video clips and powerpoint off the laptop there. Thanks, Ish!

Some youth plus an adult (can you guess which is which?)


JH Intern Chris Watkins with some of the gang. Chris is a student at Fuller and hails from Texas. (Pronounced Takes Us.)


Brendan Flanigan and yours truly.

The Kappas family. Michael is from DC; Cherry Lynn is from the Philippines.

George Washington's Thanksgiving Proclamation

General Thanksgiving

By the PRESIDENT of the United States Of America

A PROCLAMATION

---

WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed;-- for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish Constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;-- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;-- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions;-- to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.

(signed) G. Washington

TransMin Progresses--and Expands

Two Items:

First, this was included in an eblast from TransMin received yesterday:

_________________________________________________________________
The feedback received from the Transforming Churches conference stated overwhelmingly that it was a homerun! Here are some of the comments received...

"The conference helped to equip me with knowledge for starting a [young adult] ministry at my church."

"Transformation Ministries knows where it is going and is focused on its mission."

"The conference was outstanding! Inspiring speakers and program."

"If there was ever doubt that Transformation Ministries had a future, after this conference there is no longer any doubt that it has a very strong future ahead."

Thank you to all who took the time to evaluate the conference. Your suggestions and input are greatly valued.

Our prayer is that you have been challenged and re-energized to do whatever it takes to connect with the younger generations for the sake of the Kingdom.
Dale Salico
__________________________________________________________________________

Item Two:

News has reached me that a group of churches in a western state well outside the bounds of the old ABCPSW is considering an en masse affiliation with TransMin. (I could name the state, but I don't think that would be wise).

TransMin is rapidly maturing into a missonal network of Baptist churches--not a denomination, but something new and equipped for the 21st century.

A Missional Primer

I wrote this for our church newsletter and though other might want to use it to explain the concept of a missional church. Feel free to nab!

WHAT IS A MISSIONAL CHURCH?

That may be a new term for you—“missional church.” It almost sounds like “missionary church” and that’s very close. To me, to be a missional church means three things:

1. That we recognize that our community is a mission field. It’s not the home field; it’s truly a mission field. The gospel of Jesus is just slightly better known here than He is in Bangkok or Casablanca. People here need to know Jesus! We recognize that as part of our calling from God.

2. That we recognize that we ourselves are called by God to be missionaries in our community. As missionaries, we are called to make Jesus known in ways people can understand, that we are relational in our approach and incarnational in our emphasis. As missionaries, we don’t think in terms of people coming to us; we think in terms of going to them. (Elsewhere in this newsletter Rick Warren is quoted: “The measure of a church is not its seating capacity; it’s its sending capacity.” That captures the idea very well.)

3. That we don’t send others to do ministry; we do it ourselves. As missional church doesn’t raise money to reach people; it reaches people. A missional church demands every member participation. A missional church redefines the meaning of “member.” Most American Christians think of church membership as a religious club membership. Missional churches redefine that as membership in a team of world-changing, passionately involved Jesus-followers.

God is speaking to us about increasing being this kind of roll up your sleeves, participatory missional church. We’re on the journey; let’s not let up. God has called us; let’s roll!

NOC is a Winner!

I doubt they'll have room for everyone who wants to go to the National Outreach Convention next year! We were maxed out at the Town and Country Conference Center in San Diego on Thursday and Friday at somewhere around 2,500-2,700 people. NOC was solid to the end.

See some upcoming blogs on the so-called emerging church--I finally have a term I kind of like--Organic Churches--and I'll be blogging on what makes a church a Missional/Organic Church. (I'm still holding out for my own term, Fourth Reformation Churches.)

Until then...

NOC Keeps on the Practical Track

Above image from the film discussed below...

More on the National Outreach Convention...

In a words, more practical ideas per square inch than any similir conference I've attended. I've just come from the third fourth workshop I've attended (two more to go) and one thing about this convention: it's workshop-driven as opposed to plenary session driven, and for that Outreach.com deserves kudos. Last night was a "break" in the form of three lives clean comedians (they would have been a $100 ticket in Las Vegas) and the world premiere of the film Magdelana: Released from Shame, a telling of the Jesus story from the point of view of Mary Magdalene (well done, and the DVD is now in my bag).

I should be able to squeeze in one more post later today.

Miles McPherson Urges NOC to Heed God's Dream

From the National Outreach Convention...

2,300 people filled the San Diego Room at the Town and Country Conference center in San Diego last night to hear Miles McPherson, pastor of the The Rock church urge leaders to hear and heed the "dream of God" for lost people.





Basing his comments on Daniel 2, where the King demands that his wise men (the forerunners of the Magi) tell him his dream. If they do not know his dream, Nebuchadnezzer's decree was that they should die. In a similar way, if God's "wise men" do not know God's dream, the dream of reaching and discipling the lost, their ministry deserves to die as well!

This was the culmination of a great day of networking, significant conversations about ministry and outreach, and the sense that this is a place where questions get answers.

Today much of the day is taken by an array of practical workshops and a general session with Dan Kimball (author of The Emerging Church and They Like Jesus, But They Don't Like the Church) and Leonard Sweet (author of just way too many books to list). Our church staff worked through The Emerging Church, and I remember when Sweet was the token conservative on the staff of the liberal Dayton Theological Seminary (United Methodist); that was when I was serving a church twenty miles north of Dayton.

I should be able to post an update later today.

NOC Update

Above: San Diego Cityscape

I'm blogging this at the Internet Cafe at the National Outreach Convention in San Diego. So far,just been browsing through the exhibit hall. I'm impressed by (1) the youth of the organizations and organization staff here (average early 30s), and the excitement of a convention wholly focused on reaching lost people. I had a quick conversation with an exhibtor from Tampa who's focused on city-wide service evangelism, a subject near and dear to my heart. I should have an update here around 8 PM Pacific.

NOC, NOC, Who's There?

Just a programming note: Wednesday through Friday I will be at the National Outreach Convention in San Diego and will be blogging on trends in evangelism as well as giving a report on plenary speakers. I should be able to file a report nightly, with Friday's info blogged sometime Saturday.

For Day After Reformation Day

This is a slightly re-phrased re-posting of an item from June of '06. It seemed appropriate for the day after Reformation Day. Maybe we should designated Nov. 1 as "New Reformation Day." By the way, the image above is the new church logo at FBC Temple City.

The Fourth Reformation

Where are we now? I would suggest that the convulsions in the mainline denominations observed since 1965 are part of a larger pattern that is indicative of the fact that we are in the Fourth Reformation. Each Reformation was part of a rediscovery of Bibical truth, each overturned the established order and each was associated with a change in technology.

THE FIRST REFORMATION

The First Reformation was the one that we came to revere in seminary--the Reformation of Luther and Calvin, the overturning of the oppressive rule and unbiblical teaching of the Roman church. The technological innovation that helped carry this Reformation forward was the printing press. The First Reformation was Eurocentric.

THE SECOND REFORMATION

The Second Reformation was one of piety and missions. The Pietist movement and its parallels (such as Puritanism) reformed personal devotion while at the same time this era saw the dawn of the world missions movement. The great advance in technology that accompanied this Reformation was long-distance ship travel--especially as the New World (the Western Hemisphere) moved to the center of action. Both Europe and the new European settlements in North America participated in the Second Reformation.

THE THIRD REFORMATION

The Third Reformation occurred in the early and mid-20th century. It consisted of two key developments: the rise of Pentecostalism and the resurgance of essential reformational theological developments (the "solas": only faith, only the Bible, only Christ, etc.). That resurgance can be broadly called Evangelicalism. Both brought the supernatural elements of the faith to the fore. Both added fuel to the world missions movement. The technologies association with the Third Reformation were rapid travel (steamship, rail and auto) as well as the rise of radio and the dawn of television. The Third Reformation was centered in North America, but because of its close connections to world mission has had international impact. For example, in many developing nations varieties of Pentecostal churches dominate at least the Protestant side of church.

THE FOURTH REFORMATION

Now we have entered the Fourth Reformation. Historians will probably pin its beginnings to the 1990s, but as early as the early 20th century there were harbingers such as the rise of independant churches in Africa. The First Reformation was primarily doctrinal; the Second, devotional; the Third was combined the two with a strong emphasis on missions and evangelism. The Fourth Reformation is building on the first three with an emerging and transforming approach to structure and relationships.The shape of a new era is always the hardest to see in its earlier stages. This much is clear: the technology of the Fourth Reformation is the Internet. The platform of the Fourth Reformation is both worldwide and in cyberspace. At this stage, it is easier to apply adjectives to the Fourth Reformation than nouns: missional, relational, international, post-modern, and post-denominational.

As at the other Reformations, we can expect some organizations (such as denominations) to be swept away and some new ones to rise, but the new ones will be small, focused and nimble. The era of the big bureaucratic church organization is lurching to an end. We can expect that this will dominate the churchly landscape for the rest of most of our lifetimes.

TransMin, Days II and III

OK, so I'm late. Even as I wrote the last blog my stomach was roiling and that night I had the unpleasant experience of seeing dinner come back with a vengeance. Enough unpleasantness...

DAY TWO

I arrived late due to aforementioned factors in time to hear Tom Morris and Aaron Porter of FBC San Luis Obispo. FBCSLO has had considerable success in reaching Lost Generation young adults (Cal Poly SLO is nearby). They show a profound insight on "emergent"* approaches to worship, church life and evangelism. This was followed by a panel discussion which included L-Generation adults, both churched, unchurched and various places in between.

Eddie Gibbs spoke in the afternoon; I like him, but I think I like him more in print that as a speaker. Unfortunately by dinner time my three hours sleep was catching up with me so I skipped the PM and drove the 44 miles home.

DAY THREE

My live-in nurse made me take some meds that almost made my brain flatline (I exaggerate slightly); I took solace in the fact that I'd already ordered the DVD of the morning session. Sorry, readers. Be sure to check the reflections over at www.hisbarkingdog.blogspot.com.



*For reasons I'll go into some other time, I dislike the term "emerging church." A more accurate term would be "church reaching post-moderns" (CRPMs?) but I don't expect that to catch on any time soon.

TransMin Conference, Day One

Was That Oink or Oikos? TransMin Conference Brings Home the Bacon

Registration at the 2008 Transformation Ministries Conference in Riverside, CA topped 700 as the association of churches formerly known as the American Baptist Churches of the Pacific Southwest met here for three days of seminars and inspiration.

The changing nature of the former ABC region was seen in the emphasis placed on the singular task of reaching the unreached post-Christian population. Over 400 attended a pre-conference workshop conducted by Tom Mercer of High Desert Church in Victorville, CA. Over the last 24 years, HDC has grown from 120 to over 6,000 on a weekend. The center of the church's life is expressed in the Greek word oikos (basically "extended household") which Tom believes to be central to the New Testament church's life and its evangelism strategy. HDC has succeeded in making this network of influence strategy central to its life.

[By the way, a suggestion to TransMin: put Tom's seminar on the website on streaming video for as wide a dissemination as possible.]

The evening session continued the emphasis--with wonderful worship led by a praise band of worship leaders from Hawaii to Arizona and the mass choir of Trinity Baptist of Moreno Valley, CA. Executive Minister Dale Salico spoke on the need to pass the faith baton from generation to generation, and compared the plight of Israel in Judges 2 to America, from the Builder Generation to the present. He balanced the need to act with the sovereign intervention of God.

More reporting tomorrow...

The Ring of Fire

With apologies to Johnny Cash, I found "Ring of Fire" playing in my head this afternoon. For DD readers outside southern California:

• Most of life goes on normally. Yes, 500,000 plus have been evacuated. That leaves 19.5 million in place.
• There are less people on the street. As today wore on, the San Gabriel Valley air quality went down. Yesterday, the Santa Ana winds made things very clear. Today, as the strong eastward winds break up, the smoke is swirling around. I had a small amount of ash on my car when I went out at around 3 PM.
  
• Now the sky is a weird orange; it looks like there ought to be a glorious sunset, when its the whole sky that's orange.
• We have the house locked down now (5:45 PM Pacific) and the air purifier on.

By the way, there's no reason to believe that this will affect the TransMin Conference starting Thursday.

Southern California Fires Threaten, Destroy Churches

This bulletin was just released from Transformation Ministries:

October 22, 2007

Southern California, from Santa Barbara to Lake Arrowhead to San Diego, is in the grip of severe wind-driven wildfires, threatening hundreds of homes and thousands of acres. More than 10 fires are reported in San Diego County alone. In many areas, the use of firefighting aircraft has been suspended due to high winds.

Many Transformation Ministries churches are located in or near the areas impacted by the fire. At this time, we have had no reports of damage to any of our church properties or to that of our church members. We praise God for that and trust that God will continue to protect the firefighters, residents, and property in the affected areas.

You and/or your church may wish to donate cash to assist Transformation Ministries churches and our members who may be impacted by the fire. These donations will be used to assist those families who may be displaced to obtain temporary housing, food, replacement clothing, and other essentials while they are out of their homes. Other needs will be assessed at a later time. We pray that the number will be small and that there will be no injuries or loss of life. Please send your donation to: Transformation Ministries, Attn: SoCal wildfires, 970 S. Village Oaks Drive, Suite 101, Covina, CA 91724.

If you are aware of members of your church or community that your church is assisting, please notify Paul Bennett at (800) 299-3448, extension 878, or Lorena Rosales, extension 891. Tell us of the need and how we may support your relief efforts.

We will seek to use all donations to assist families and persons impacted by the fires. In the past, the funds available have exceeded the need for assistance. Should there be an excess of monies, that excess will be added to the Pastors Emergency Fund to assist pastors and church staff members who experience emergencies.

For those who will attend the Transforming Churches Conference beginning October 25 through 27, the offering taken at the Conference will be to assist wildfire victims. You may also speak to me at the Conference with questions or needs related to the fires.

Blessings in Jesus' name,

Steve
Steven L. Roblee Minister of Mission Advancement Transformation Ministries Toll Free: (800)299-3448, ext. 879 Direct: (626)408-3879

I noted on Mark Roberts' blog that the church destroyed in Malibu was the outstanding evangelical Malibu Presbyterian. Read the full story with pictures here.

Upcoming: TransMin Conference II

Just a notice: the second conference of Transformation Ministries will be next Thursday-Saturday. Yes, I know that TransMin is the continuation of ABCPSW, the Southern CA Baptist Convention, etc. But this is the first time when a church from Maine will be represented! Therefore I plan to blog impressions nightly.

The conference is in Riverside, CA, 44 miles from Temple City, at the Riverside Conference Center (pictured above). That's close enough that I don't plan to stay over, but to commute.

Heads up, stay tuned, and all that.

Blogging Barna

Sometimes as I read a good ministry book, I make a simple summary of the key ideas. I just finished reading a George Barna book for 2002 (better late than never), and did the same. I'd love some lively exchange on the ideas here. By the way, this is much better than his Revolution (2005) where I think some of the wheels came off his idea cart.


Ministry Implications of George Barna’s
Grow Your Church from the Outside In
(Ventura, CA: Regal, 2002)

Observations

1. Unchurched people can’t stand what they see as hypocrisy
2. Unchurched people are convinced that they don’t have time for church
3. In America, most people who accept Christ do so between ages 5-13
4. The unchurched see themselves as self-sufficient and not as “lost”; but they do connect to being seen as “spiritual explorers”
5. Unchurched people are most likely to connect to churches in which they see that members really care for one another
6. Unchurched people are more likely to respect churches that care for the needy of the community
7. Unchurched people are concerned about their families, and open to help with family life
8. The unchurched feel they have little time for passive activities, such as simply attending a worship service
9. Concerts and festivals are the best venues for connecting with the unchurched and establishing a positive image that become the basis for later personal invitations. (VBS and films are not effective venues.)

My question for discussion: although I have a list of implications, I didn't put them here. What are some of the implications as YOU see them?

Rescue from the Ravine

Tanya Rider's car being removed from the Ravine


Maybe you remember the story from last week about a woman who went missing and the relentless faith her husband had that she hadn’t just run off.

Tanya Rider, 33 of Maple Valley, Washington, was found September 27, eight days after she went missing. Her car had gone off the road into a ravine, covered by brush. Her husband Tom reported her missing, but was told by police that they thought she’d run away. Tom wouldn’t take that for an answer. He pressed police to start a search.

Tanya's car had tumbled about 20 feet down the ravine and lay buried below heavy brush and blackberry bushes. Rescuers had to slice the roof off to get her out.

Tom Rider said he had been just sitting down to take a polygraph test at the King County sheriff's office so officers could exclude him as a suspect in his wife's disappearance, when officers told him the car had been found. They used her cell phone signal to track her to the ravine.

Tom Rider should get some kind of reward as the man who wouldn’t give up. He explained that he knew that Tanya wouldn’t just run away, and he was convinced that she was in some kind of trouble.

You might say, he had faith in her. He knew what she was like, and running away just wasn’t her. But maybe more important was the faith that she had faith in him. Tanya was certain that Tom wouldn’t give up.

In the same way, Jesus saw us in the ravine, and He wouldn’t give up on us. At great cost and misunderstanding, and at personal risk, He came for us. And now he says to us, “I know you’re broken, banged up and near dead. Just put your trust in Me and I’ll get you out of here.” That’s the simplicity of faith: He is our rescuer. That’s what Savior means: He rescues us.

And now He says to us, “Repent, and believe the Good News. I’ve come for you. It’s going to be all right. Let's get you ought of here.”

God is good! That's Jesus alright--the one who goes into the ravine to find us. The one who will not give up.

The Incredible Power of the Jesus Film

The most recent issue of Mission Frontiers, the publication of the US Center for World Missions, included an article on the amazing effects of the Jesus Film, which I reproduce below. The entire issue was great; I was especially fascinated by Ralph Winters article on "The Future of Evangelicals in Mission." Follow the links and you will not be disappointed.

By Rick Wood

In the history of the modern mission movement,few organizations have succeeded as brilliantly
as The Jesus Film Project. Started in 1980 as an evangelistic effort of Campus Crusade for
Christ using a recently released film called the Jesus Film, which chronicles the life of Christ from the Gospel of Luke, its efforts have gone from simply amazing to astounding and earth shaking.

For at least a decade or two it has remained the most translated and viewed film in the history of film making. When we featured the Jesus Film and its mind boggling goals in the November-December 1997 issue of Mission Frontiers, they had translated the film into 419 languages and had exposed the film to over one billion people. Now as of the end of June 2007, they have translated the film into over 1,000 languages and achieved the incredible
milestone of exposing over 6.2 billion to the film with some having seen it more than once. The one million speakers of the Lanka Kol language of India are the recipients of the 1000th translation of the Jesus Film.

Even more significant is that over 201 million people have committed their lives to Christ as a result of viewing this film and hundreds of thousands of
new churches have been established...

Steve Steele, formerly of the DAWN Movement which promotes church planting has said, “Of the 1 million churches started in the last decade (1992-2002) 75 percent used the Jesus Even more significant is that over 201 million people have committed their lives to Christ as a result of viewing this film and hundreds of thousands of new churches have been established...

It took 17 years from 1980 to 1997 for the Jesus Film Project to reach 419 translations and one billion viewers. In just the last 10 years they have completed over 581 more translations and reached an additional five billion viewers. This is just the beginning of their plans to plant churches and expose as many as possible to the life saving message of the gospel of Christ.

In terms of translations, their ultimate goal is to translate the film into the heart language of every person. But their intermediate goal is to translate the Jesus Film into every language with over 100,000 speakers. Th ere are currently around 1,500 such languages, so the Jesus Film is two-thirds of the way towards that goal. With a new translation completed almost once a week, they should reach this goal within the next 10 years.

The accomplishments of the Jesus Film Project are not theirs alone. They would be the first to admit that. Their success has been largely due to the strategic partnerships that the Jesus Film Project has built with hundreds of mission and church organizations around the world. Currently they have active partnerships with 1,500 organizations that are using the Jesus Film
in their evangelism and church planting efforts. The film is shown to people around the world in some of the most remote locations by thousands of teams of missionaries and volunteers. The success of the Jesus Film is really the success of the global church in coming together to use an effective media tool.

...As the Jesus Film approaches the end of its third decade of ministry, its leaders recognize that they need to adapt the film to the needs of an increasingly sophisticated media audience,
especially in Western countries. The younger generation of 15-25 year olds will likely need new versions of the film in order to communicate the message of the gospel to them in a meaningful
way. This will involve the creation of completely new films in order to reach this and following generations of young people. The focus is not on the Jesus Film itself. It is merely a tool. The focus is the development and distribution of the most effective media tools to communicate the gospel to various types of audiences. One size or tool does not fit all.

...The Jesus Film Project is always looking for new ways to convey the message of the Jesus Film and the gospel. Currently, the Jesus Film is available to view online in any of 800 different
languages. You can also download segments of the film onto your iPod for on-the-go viewing. As technology and the mission of the Church around the world advances, you can be assured that the Jesus Film Project will be actively involved in helping to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to every tribe and tongue.

Second Temple Quarry Found

Report: Herod's Temple quarry found

By SEAN GAFFNEY, Associated Press Writer Mon Sep 24, 8:00 AM ET

JERUSALEM - Israeli archaeologists said they have discovered a quarry that provided King Herod with the stones he used to renovate the biblical Second Temple compound — offering rare insight into construction of the holiest site in Judaism.

The source of the huge stones used 2,000 years ago to reconstruct the compound in Jerusalem's Old City was discovered on the site of a proposed school in a Jerusalem suburb.

Today, the compound Herod renovated houses the most explosive religious site in the Holy Land, known as the Temple Mount to Jews and the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims.

"This is the first time stones which were used to build the Temple Mount walls were found," said Yuval Baruch, an archaeologist with the Israeli Antiquities Authority involved in the dig. Quarries mined for the massive stones, each weighing more than 20 tons, eluded researchers until now, he said Sunday.

Baruch said coins and pottery found in the quarry confirm the stone was used during the period of Herod's expansion of the Temple Mount in 19 B.C.

But researchers said the strongest piece of evidence was found wedged into one of the massive cuts in the white limestone — an iron stake used to split the stone. The tool was apparently improperly used, accidentally lodged in the stone and forgotten.

"It stayed here for 2,000 years for us to find because a worker didn't know what to do with it," said archaeologist Ehud Nesher, also of the Antiquities Authority.

Nesher said the large outlines of the stone cuts indicated the site was a massive public project worked by hundreds of slaves. "Nothing private could have done this," Nesher said. "This is Herod's, this is a sign of him."

Herod was the Jewish proxy ruler of the Holy Land under imperial Roman occupation from 37 B.C. Herod's most famous construction project was the renovation of the Temple, replacing a smaller structure that itself replaced the First Temple, destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.

Stephen Pfann, president of the University of The Holy Land and an expert in the Second Temple period, said the discovery was encouraging.

"It would be very difficult to find any other buildings in any other period that would warrant stones of that size," said Pfann, who was not involved in the dig. He said further testing of the rock is necessary to confirm the findings.

The Second Temple was leveled by Roman conquerors in A.D. 70. The Western Wall, the holiest prayer site for Jews, is the best known surviving remnant.

Atop the adjacent compound, where Jews believe the Temple once stood, now stand two of the holiest sites in Islam, the al-Aqsa Mosque and the gold-capped Dome of the Rock.

The site is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with both sides claiming the area.

Israel captured Jerusalem's Old City from Jordan during the 1967 Mideast war. While retaining security responsibility for the site, Israel allows Muslims to handle day-to-day responsibilities there.

"And that is what some of you were" (1 Corinthians 6:11)

The Bible clearly tells us (see reference above) that people can be delivered from same-sex attraction affliction. New research backs that up. From Crosswalk.com...

Changing Sexual Orientation Is Possible, New Research Says

Randy Hall

Staff Writer/Editor

(CNSNews.com) - The results of a three-year study challenge the idea that homosexuals cannot change their sexual orientation and that attempts to do so are harmful. But an opponent of "ex-gays" dismissed the findings as the result of "a deceptive sham" perpetrated by "right-wing therapists."

While writing their book, "Ex-Gays? A Longitudinal Study of Religiously Mediated Change in Sexual Orientation," researchers Stanton Jones of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill., and Mark Yarhouse of Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va., chronicled the experiences of 98 people who contacted Christian ministries in an attempt to become heterosexuals.

"What we found by following these subjects over time is that not everyone is successful, not even a majority is successful, but a very substantial group of people report fairly dramatic change," Jones said while discussing the research during the annual conference of the American Association of Christian Counselors last Thursday in Nashville, Tenn.

"Fifteen percent of our sample of about 100 claimed to actually have changed from homosexuality to heterosexuality," said Jones. "It needs to be said that this process is not like flipping a light switch. Life is still complicated for these people, and some still have some residuals of their homosexual attractions."

"However, they report being able to function as heterosexuals, they're happy with their marriages, and they feel that their lives have changed dramatically," he said.

The study also examined the question of whether or not attempts to change were harmful to the subjects.

"We administered a standard psychological inventory that measures distress to our subjects at every point along the way," Jones said, adding that they found that there was "essentially no change" in the participants' emotional well-being.

Because both of them are from Christian colleges, Jones and Yarhouse addressed skeptics of religious researchers who deal with matters of science.

"We are evangelical Christians committed to the truth-seeking activity of science," they said in a joint statement.

"In conducting and reporting this study, we took seriously the words of one of our heroes, C. S. Lewis, who said that science produced by Christian persons would have to be 'perfectly honest. Science twisted in the interests of apologetics would be sin and folly,'" the researchers said.

Initial reaction to the research has varied dramatically along social and cultural lines.

Alan Chambers, an ex-homosexual who serves as president of the Christian ministry Exodus International - which was the source of many subjects in the study - praised the survey. In a Friday news release, he praised the work as "the first longitudinal, peer-reviewed, scientific research of its kind on this topic to date."

"Finally, there is now scientific evidence to prove what we as former homosexuals have known all along - that those who struggle with unwanted same-sex attraction can experience freedom from it," Chambers said. "For years, opponents of choice have said otherwise, and this body of research is critical in advancing the national dialogue on this issue."

Mat Staver, president of the Christian group Liberty Counsel, said in a news release of his own that the study is "groundbreaking" and would have "profound reverberations for counselors."

"The debate about homosexuality has too often been driven by political rather than scientific considerations," said Staver. "The American Psychological Association (APA) and other, similar organizations may no longer silence dissent."

The APA responded to the research by pointing to a recent statement made by the organization on its Web site: "Efforts to repathologize homosexuality by claiming that it can be cured are often guided not by rigorous scientific ... research, but sometimes by religious and political forces opposed to full civil rights for gay men and lesbians."

However, former APA President Nicholas Cummings praised the research methods of Jones and Yarhouse. "This study has broken new ground in its adherence to objectivity and a scientific precision that can be replicated and expanded, and it opens new horizons for investigation," he said.

Nevertheless, Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out, which describes itself as "a non-profit organization that counters right-wing propaganda, exposes the 'ex-gay' myth and educates America about gay life," called the study a "deceptive sham with the goal of making it appear as if science backs fundamentalist beliefs on homosexuality."

"It comes as no shock that anti-gay 'researchers'" would produce a study claiming "you can pray away the gay," Besen said. "I suppose their next study will provide support for Pat Robertson's theory that homosexuality causes meteors and hurricanes."

Besen also criticized the size of the study sample as "unusually small" and asserted that people "should be extremely skeptical of such a mockery of the scientific method."

The 414-page book "Ex-Gays? A Longitudinal Study of Religiously Mediated Change in Sexual Orientation" is being published by InterVarsity Press and will be available to the public in October.

Make media inquiries or request an interview with Randy Hall.

Subscribe to the free CNSNews.com daily E-brief.

THE PERFECT POPLAR

My son is going to college in downtown Los Angeles, so a few mornings a week I race up Baldwin Avenue to Foothill and on to the Sierra Villa light rail station. Although my bleary eyes dislike zipping along Foothill at 6:20 AM, I started to notice one certain tree in the median on the western edge of Arcadia, just before the Pasadena line. Many of you have no doubt seen the same tree. Although there are several poplars in that area, there’s one that seems to have been made by an artist. The trunk is perfectly smooth and the greenery is spread at a jaunty angle.

It is indeed “the perfect poplar.”

Why is it that I see that tree as so perfect? Why do I identify it as beautiful? Is it possible that I am hard-wired for beauty?

In his excellent book Simply Christian: Why Christianity Make Sense, New Testament scholar N.T. Wright speaks of what he calls “echoes of a voice.” Specifically, we hear the echoes of a voice for justice (right and wrong, fair and unfair), spirituality (“we were made for more than this”), relationships or love and the echoes of the voice of beauty.

Wright tells a parable: a musical manuscript is discovered that proves to be a genuine work of Mozart. However, the music is only that of the piano part of what appears a concerto. Long pauses are in the piece, but we have no clue what other instruments Mozart had in mind. We have evidence of a beautiful intelligent composition, but an incomplete view of that beauty.

So also when we look in the creation, we see beauty, but we cannot see or even perceive it all. It is “exquisite, yet leaving us unsatisfied.” It not as if we get to the point of ever saying, “Enough, I’ve seen all the beauty there is.”

Slowly it dawns on us that the reason that all the beauties of earth leave us unfilled is the realization that they are reflections, echoes of a greater beauty. “Heaven and earth are full of glory, a glory which stubbornly refuses to be reduced to terms of the senses of the humans who perceive it.”

There are the few who stubbornly refuse to see the glory behind the beauty. Our idea of beauty, they say, is an evolutionary adaptation. But the vast majority of the world’s peoples see the divine hidden behind the beauty. The beauty and glory of God is reflected and expressed in the beauty and the glory of His creation. Like the Mozart masterpiece, from where we stand we have only a portion of the manuscript.

Wright points out that the Biblical writers never try to gloss over the miseries and deficiencies of this world, and at the same time they stoutly maintained that the creation is good, and the good creation of an infinitely good God. They tell “the story of what…God has been doing to rescue his beautiful world and put it to rights. And the story that they tell…indicates that the present world really is a signpost to a larger beauty, a deeper truth. It really is the authentic manuscript of one part of a masterpiece. The question is, What is the whole manuscript like, and how can we begin to hear the music the way it was intended?”

Beauty is a clue placed both in the creation and in the human heart by God himself as breadcrumb to follow to seek the road home. The perfect poplar, the Grand Canyon, a white sandy Hawaiian beach, a stunning desert vista, Victoria Falls—all clues placed here to remind us of the deeper beauty that can be seen if we look hard, and the echo that can be heard with cupped, expectant hands. Listen!—God is calling.

Half-Mile Tunnel Discovered Beneath Jerusalem

It seems remarkable that in a city like Jerusalem, which has been a central focus of archaeologists for a long time, major finds are still being made. The most recent: two weeks ago, Israeli archaeologists discovered a massive tunnel, believed to be around a half mile long and as much as ten feet high. The tunnel was built for drainage, but has been long sought in part because of its historical role as described by Josephus:

[W]hat makes the channel doubly significant is its role as an escape hatch for Jews desperate to flee the conquering Romans, the dig's directors said.

As the [Second] [T]emple was being destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., numerous people took shelter in the drainage channel and lived inside it until they fled Jerusalem through its southern end, the historian Josephus Flavius wrote in "The War of the Jews."

Pottery shards, vessels and coins from the First Century have been found inside the tunnel. Here is the tunnel:

And some artifacts from the tunnel:

No Reserves, No Retreats, No Regrets

In 1904 William Borden graduated from a Chicago high school. As heir to the Borden Dairy estate, he was already a millionaire. For his high school graduation present, his parents gave 16-year-old Borden a trip around the world. As the young man traveled through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, he felt a growing burden for the world's hurting people. Finally, Bill Borden wrote home to say, "I'm going to give my life to prepare for the mission field."

One friend expressed surprise that he was "throwing himself away as a missionary."

In response, Bill wrote two words in the back of his Bible: "No reserves."

Even though young Borden was wealthy, he arrived on the campus of Yale University in 1905 trying to look like just one more freshman. Very quickly, however, Borden's classmates noticed something unusual about him and it wasn't his money. One of them wrote: "He came to college far ahead, spiritually, of any of us. He had already given his heart in full surrender to Christ and had really done it. We who were his classmates learned to lean on him and find in him a strength that was solid as a rock, just because of this settled purpose and consecration."

During his college years, Bill Borden made one entry in his personal journal that defined what his classmates were seeing in him. That entry said simply: "Say 'no' to self and 'yes' to Jesus every time."

During his first semester at Yale, Borden started something that would transform campus life. One of his friends described how it happened: "It was well on in the first term when Bill and I began to pray together in the morning before breakfast. I cannot say positively whose suggestion it was, but I feel sure it must have originated with Bill. We had been meeting only a short time when a third student joined us and soon after a fourth. The time was spent in prayer after a brief reading of Scripture. Bill's handling of Scripture was helpful. . . . He would read to us from the Bible, show us something that God had promised and then proceed to claim the promise with assurance."

Borden's small morning prayer group gave birth to a movement that spread across the campus. By the end of his first year, 150 freshmen were meeting for weekly Bible study and prayer. By the time Bill Borden was a senior, one thousand of Yale's 1,300 students were meeting in such groups.

Borden's outreach ministry was not confined to the Yale campus. He cared about widows and orphans and cripples. He rescued drunks from the streets of New Haven. To rehabilitate them, he founded the Yale Hope Mission.

Borden's missionary call narrowed to the Muslim Kansu people in China. Once that goal was in sight, Borden never wavered. He also inspired his classmates to consider missionary service.

Upon graduation from Yale, Borden turned down some high paying job offers. In his Bible, he wrote two more words: "No retreats."

William Borden went on to graduate work at Princeton Seminary in New Jersey. When he finished his studies at Princeton, he sailed for China. Because he was hoping to work with Muslims, he stopped first in Egypt to study Arabic. While there, he contracted spinal meningitis. Within a month, 25-year-old William Borden was dead.

Was Borden's untimely death a waste? Not in God's plan. Prior to his death, Borden had written two more words in his Bible. Underneath the words "No reserves" and "No retreats," he had written: "No regrets."